When I first got The Suicide Kit, I was expecting something related to the title in name or theme. However, the book is more focused on death by form of circumstance.
The first realisation that the book was not about suicide as such was from reading the very first tale in the book, ‘The Typing Pool’. Not looking at the contents page, I expected this to be some related story to suicide. It was not so. The format is that of a several short stories, and not all ending or related to death. The theme seems to be that of regret or wanting, to exist in a better world or to attain a better life.
As a collection of stories, The Suicide Kit ranges from good to bad, to forgettable. The majority of the tales are in the zone of “good”. The two parts of The Suicide Kit itself are pretty poor in themselves, which simply adds to the misery of this excuse for writing.
With stories as short as two to three pages, going on to six or seven, there doesn’t seem the be any guide on what the author was trying to aim for. In fact, some of the stories are nonsensical for the most part, and only seem to be fillers for the purpose of completing the book. It has been mentioned that David Hayles writes with all the skill of a twelve year old High School student. This is a fair comment to make, as it seems to be a collection of rants, and in some cases, random thoughts put together through free association, and then tidied up later.
seems to use profanity for the sake of it, and the situations and conversation seem to be lacking any real imagination
In essence, this book could have been written by anyone with an open mind, and creative freedom within the area of death. I could collect 30 stories from several people and create a book that would perhaps provide more breadth and quality in story telling than The Suicide Kit. It’s not to say the simplicity of the language is a bad thing, but it doesn’t really come out as essential literature. You won’t learn anything more about prose, style or anything in writing that you don’t already know.
As a book to read, it does entertain for the majority of it’s length. I even found the most predictable tales like ‘p.o.w.’ to be of certain entertainment value. To be fair, the book does cover quite a range of topics that could be considered taboo including orgies, murder, and necrophilia. However, it is presented in such a simplistic manner that the tales don’t carry that much weight.
The book begins with ‘The Typing Pool’ which is a short but interesting tale about a secretary who wants to work, and the boss that doesn’t want to give her anything to do. It’s followed by ‘The Dwarf Wrangler’ which seems to use profanity for the sake of it, and the situations and conversation seem to be lacking any real imagination. It’s mildly entertaining. The book continues in this fashion, with the tales at the end of the book perhaps providing the least interest.
I can tell this is a book that would entertain some of my friends and make them laugh hard at points. Perhaps my criticism stems from reading so many good books of late, that The Suicide Kit promises much of the same darkly comic tales I have been reading. It sadly fails in that department, and ends up as a “try harder” title.
a collection of rants, and in some cases, random thoughts put together through free association, and then tidied up later
The characters are interesting, and well described in both personality and act. Taking this on board, it seems obvious that David Hayles really could have done something good with The Suicide Kit, but ends up writing a book which only seems half finished. I’m not sure if he is capable of writing more than collection of short tales, and I would hoped to be proved wrong when I say I don’t believe he can, since he seems incapable of completing a short tales.
There are better books out there, and I would really only borrow this book from a library or perhaps borrow it from a friend. It isn’t worth the money it’s asking for. Perhaps if it was 99p, then it’s worth picking up – but for £6.99 you are better of spending your money on a more worthy book.
A note that you should be aware of is to avoid purchasing the Vintage release of the book, should you decide to purchase it, as there are two key errors in the printing of the book, and is the same across further copies. I contacted Vintage who were generous enough to send me what they believed to be a complete copy of the book, and in addition provided another title without cost.
It was very gracious of them to do so, however, the print is still the same and the errors still occur. While not ruining the overall experience of reading the book, it is annoying to find there are pages missing in a story, meaning you have to accept the story as it is, or to skip it. I accepted them as is, but others may feel different, in which case I would try another publisher if available.
Verdict: An interesting premise, let down by poor execution. Borrow don’t buy.