Book Review: The Liar

Readers who approach The Liar expecting the acerbic wit of Stephen Fry demonstrated in his QI outings may find themselves disappointed

Readers who approach The Liar expecting the acerbic wit of Stephen Fry demonstrated in his QI outings may find themselves disappointed. That is not to say that The Liar is not a humorous book, but it is self-consciously so and whilst it could not be described as a laboured effort, it is perhaps a little “sixth-formerish” in places.

The action centers around the principal character Adrian, who spends the first chapters playing at being a dandy in his public school in England. It is difficult to warm to him, as his verbosity can come across as affected rather than a manifestation of his, we are assured, fertile mind. The plot is in parts disjointed, which proves to be both an excellent example of the use of a selective narrative, Adrian being the primary source of information for the reader but also exposed as unreliable, “Liar” of the title, but also a little frustrating as the frequent brief interludes dealing with characters described only in terms of their clothing, “peaked cap” or “grey suit” appear to be somewhat redundant until quite late on in the novel.

Fry shines less when he is dealing with the grosser details of public-school life and male prostitution, the descriptions of which can feel rather gratuitous at times and far more when he is allowed to go about his business of revealing titbits of information, which he does with aplomb when let loose on philology. He also details with adolescent love without being patronising, describing Adrian’s lust for Cartwright both in terms of “baby love” and “Lesbia” to Adrian’s “Catullus”. The prose has moments of brilliance in which Fry shows off his wit and intelligence to great affect but I must admit, a combination of superfluous sex scenes and an overly complicated but ultimately unsatisfying plot left me cold.

This allusion to Catullus brings me rather neatly to my final verdict on the book. It is not that Fry does not address his themes well, it is simply that others address them better. Fry deals, for example, with love in all its manifestations. However if it is love that you’re after, whether the first pangs of it, foul-mouthed anger arising from it, or the endless potential of it, you could do worse than to read Catullus.

The Liar
Author: Stephen Fry
Publisher: Arrow