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Where’s Sailor Jack? By John Uttley follows the lives of Bob Swarbrick and Richard Shackleton in a family heritage preservation style book written by Bob’s son. Bob and Richard grew up in the post-WWII era as part of the generations of working-class youths who found wealth and stability in the Labour environment they grew up in. With class as the book’s undertones, Bob and Richard also deal with infidelity, divorce, raising children, finding themselves in the modern era and most importantly for them, religion. This book is an insight into the life of people in their 50s through to their 70s, dealing with new experiences and attempting to let go of their past. Bob and Richard’s similar northern background and deeply religious views allow them to aid each other through this turbulent and reflective part of their lives.
I’ll admit, the only reason I read this book is because the sequel, No Precedent, is a book I have luckily been given to red by NetGalley, so it was necessary, otherwise I’m unsure I’d choose a book like this to read. If I had to describe this book it would be if Normal People was written about northerners in their 60s as opposed to Irish students going to university. The book is extraordinarily simple, with very little happening; there is no dramatic event that shapes the story and there is no real end goal that drives the story forward. Upon reading up on the author Uttley’s life, he seems to have reflected the main characters, Bob’s, life to his, making the experiences fascinating.
One weakness I found with this book was that it was evident that the author was grappling between presenting a mundane life whilst also feeling the need to add excitement and interest to the lives of the characters. A business deal is being agreed upon with Bob, Richard, and Wendy at the beginning of the novel, which spans the first 40%. While it was needed in some aspect to start the book off and present the protagonists, as well as demonstrating to the readers the class dynamic, it was like reading a financial magazine and didn’t show much of the characters. While it did pick up after this, the only way Uttley managed to add anything remotely interesting to this story was by throwing in endless amounts of infidelity scandals in virtually every main relationship in the novel (and there was a lot of characters, meaning a lot of infidelity). About 55% into the book I described it to my partner as “a bunch of Christians bragging about how in touch they are with their faith whilst also having their fifth affair of the year”. It was exhausting.
To add to this, it only made me like the characters less when they just accepted that their partners were cheating and seemed to let said partners walk all over them. Richard seemingly accepts his partners infidelity, questioning whether this is healthy, whilst then casually cheating on her with his first girlfriend. Characters like Jane, Bob’s first wife, is unquestioningly unlikeable because of her continuous mistreatment of men in her life. Her inability to prioritise anyone but herself is infuriating and ultimately made me resent Jane for cheating and Bob for being a carpet for her to walk over.
This dynamic is only exacerbated when paired with Bob and Richard’s deep religious values, believing that they are good people and will end up in heaven because of their ability to recite scripture and attend Sunday church. The casualness of the infidelity in the novel (especially considering it’s occasionally revenge driven) is only as remarkable as it is when contrasted to Bob and Richard’s on-going religious conversations about one’s self and the afterlife. By the end of the book my brain ached and throbbed more from keeping up with characters and scandals than it did from questions of divinity and cosmology. (I’ve managed to count 7 infidelity scenes and I’m sure I’m forgetting a few, all from the main characters).
Another weakness is the sheer amount of characters in the novel, especially towards the end when grandchildren as well as great nephews and nieces are being mentioned. Because of all the cheating, their family trees are often more akin to a winding hedge maze, so trying to remember every character, let alone form a connection to them, is too confusing and only takes away time from the two protagonists. Characters floating in and out the novel seem pointless at times, especially when their sole purpose is to cheat or remind the reader of their previous cheating. Class conflicts and infidelity dominate the book throughout, and I don’t see how that works to create a particularly interesting or likeable book.
Finally, the ending felt rushed, as if the author was cut for time and needed to ensure that every single character mentioned throughout the book had their ending explained. This is obviously because the book is a heritage preservation style book. While I think I understand the sentiment, with Utterly holding these characters close to him and feeling that he needed them to have a well-rounded ending, it merely felt like the author was trying to remind himself who the characters were and figuring out how to end their stories. The last 7% was essentially an update on the families, which didn’t feel at all real or natural.
One major strength I will praise is the fact that this book is clearly a personal attempt from the author to give a voice to those who might be dismissed in today’s post-modern society. The term ‘straight while male’ has recently been thrown around by people who oppose the oppressive system they find themselves in. People that are perhaps limited in job or relationship markets and find their intersectionality a weakness in many circles of life.
However, Uttley’s book gives a microphone to that section of society so we can hear their perspectives. Even me, quick to judge that generation based off their ‘old-fashioned’ or ‘backwards’ way of thinking had to rethink my prejudices and realise that not all those that fit into the ‘straight white male’ category are necessarily conservative, Brexiters, fearful of the immigrants, gays and single-mothers in our society. Uttley, in his mid seventies, shows himself through his characters to be well-equipped to the deal with changes in society, despite Bob being unsure of his abilities in doing-so. If anything, this book is refreshing as it presents two engineers, aware of their damage to the environment because of their careers; aware that they were the few working class who managed to go up the social ladder; aware of modern politics and needing to ‘move with the times’; aware that religion isn’t going to be the path for everyone. Despite the rest of my opinions on the book, I give full praise to Uttley for planting a seed of thought in me that perhaps wouldn’t have grown in me so early on in my life. I hope to find this in his next novel, No Precedent.
Additionally, the writing style is actually quite good, especially when contrasted to the plot. His writing has a way of making you truly understand the characters whilst not saying much. Despite not liking most of the cast, I did feel like I understood the protagonists.
Overall, I don’t think this book contributed much to society or literature, other than its unique perspective that was seemingly lost in fiction. For me, the book was too confusing because of the abundance of characters, as well as having no real purpose or drive. To carry on from this, the infidelity scandals and lack of a moral conscience among some of the characters didn’t make them likeable and didn’t make for an enjoyable time reading it.
Rating: ⭐⭐