Originally published on my blog here in January 1999.I'm in two minds about Dirty Tricks. On the one hand, it is excellently written and occasionally very funny. On the other, the character of the narrator and the events he describes are so convincingly unpleasant that I found it difficult to bring myself to read more than a few pages at a time, and am distinctly dubious about whether I would want to read other books by Dibdin.The scenario is that the book is basically a transcription of an address made to a court in South America opposing an attempt by the British to have the speaker extradited to stand trial for a double murder. The narrator begins by claiming that he is going to tell the truth throughout - but then he would, of course. He admits to a variety of other crimes, but his aim is to persuade the court that he may not have committed the murder, as that is the only crime covered by the extradition treaty.He started out as a teacher of English in a seedy language school in Oxford, one basically set up to make as much money as possible without regarding the standard of the education passed on to its students. There he is ground down by Clive, his employer and owner of the language school, his aspirations and ideals engendered by being a student in Oxford in the hippie era gradually abandoned in the realities of life in Thatcherite Britain. Then he meets a couple from north Oxford, Dennis and Karen, and is seduced by Karen at a dinner party.Dennis and Karen have something the narrator does not - money - and he has something they do not - culture - and so their acquaintance ripens, along with his affair with Karen. Then Dennis dies, apparently in a boating accident - or rather, say the police later, a carefully pre-meditated plot by the narrator, who marries Karen after a barely decent interval. It is not until Karen herself dies, with evidence pointing at her new lover, Clive, that the police become interested. (The interrogation carried out by Chief Inspector Moss, a parody of Morse, infuriatingly more interested in the crossword than the crime, is another funny touch.)The whole account raises an issue, which has been of importance to several influential twentieth century writers - the question, of how trustworthy a first person narrative is. It is abundantly clear from the way that the narrator here expresses himself (and the circumstances in which the story is set) that he would have no qualms in falsifying events if it would make him look better and save himself from a return to England and prison, and the reader certainly has no way to know whether or not he has done so. Gide is the master at casting doubt on a narrative, particularly in The Counterfeiters, but his doubts are aimed at overturning the traditional omniscience of a third person narrator rather than at deliberate falsification. The way in which people colour their perception of a scene even in their own mind is of course a major concern in stream-of-consciousness narratives. Dirty Tricks is using a technique which is closely allied to that of the epistolary novel, where a variety of correspondents give their own viewpoint on events, or novels like Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being or Pears' An Instance of the Fingerpost, where the same events are told from different points of view, so different in the first case that it takes the reader some time to realise that they are the same events. These comparisons to other literary experiments in narrative give an idea of the quality of Dibdin's writing; nevertheless, the narrator's character is so repulsive as to be distinctly off-putting.
This novel reminded me very much of Nabokov's "Lolita," not because there's any pedophilia in Dibdin's "Dirty Tricks" (there isn't), but because its narrator, like Nabokov's Humbert Humbert, is so cruel and humorous, simultaneously witty and sadistic. In other words, this novel, much like "Lolita," starts out pleasantly enough, a social satire, on the lines of the Way We Live Now, as told by a man on trial for murder (which may or may not be justifiable homicide), and quickly turns into a nightmare, in which the reader finds him/herself complicit in the very worst crimes imaginable, if only for the reason that we started out sympathizing with this seemingly very likable person, the narrator, who instead has turned out to be the most appalling person imaginable. The shock of recognition -- evil made flesh -- is horrific, when it comes. So I'm not surprised that many people found this book unreadable in the end. I find "Lolita" unreadable, too, now that I know what it's really about.
Do You like book Dirty Tricks (1997)?
DIRTY TRICKS. (1991). Michael Dibdin. ****.This is not an Aurelio Zen novel by this author, but a stand alone book that is full of crime and surprises. Dibdin has a sly sense of humor, much of it on the blue side. In this case, we have a mixture of an over-sexed wife who is not being served by her husband, the presence of a great deal of insurance money, and a rogue who is interested in both. Although the killings are not true murders, one can still profit by them. This is a light-hearted romp that is very enjoyable. I would also recommend that you look for a copy of the BBC production of this story. I was able to find a copy through our library system. Don’t miss it. Recommended.
—Tony
So disappointed with this book. I have always enjoyed Dibdin's writing in the Aurelio Zen series and was looking forward to this book, but found it so unreadable that I couldn't finish it. The Zen series have humour and sharply observed characters, and Zen's cynical view of the world and his attempts to navigate the complexity of the Italian beurocracy are a joy. The first person recount of the sordid story didn't work for me, maybe because the character was so unlikeable and shallow. Just a bleak, humourless tale. Disappointing.
—Libby Smith
An enormously clever book with some very beautifully drawn characters. The protagonist is a first rate cad, adventurer, opportunist, shameless and cynical exploiter of women. He has a contempt for the English upper middle class, their mediocre Readers Digest minds, their snobbish aspirations and the like. However, this doesn't stop him from wanting to have what they have.He is prepared to use his skills in flattery and seduction to gain advantage. Having a lack of genuine feeling is no barrier to him. The kinds of people that he is dealing with himself are themselves often not very genuine. They are also trying to better themselves though association with brands, schools, affiliations that lend status to their positions in society. The results are quite hilarious. He is a difficult character to warm towards, for want of any good qualities in his nature. And being a wheeler and dealer he is smart enough to come out relatively unscathed. Looking back on the trail of adventuring, it seems that the one redeeming thing that makes such actions somehow forgivable is that he is playing others at their own game.
—Meredith
