THERE ARE CERTAIN aspects of mass culture - reality television, lottery tickets, instant noodles - which have few redeeming virtues but are wonderful all the same. British author Scarlett Thomas' novels come into this category, though she'd probably hate to be told that.
Her technique is to describe only the most soul-destroying elements of modern Britain, while constantly whacking the reader over the head with observations about how demoralising it is, as if she's the only person who's noticed.
In her latest book, Going Out, her leading character, 25-year-old Julie, works in a pizza restaurant called The Edge in a faceless suburban landscape: 'Along with some other shops - B&Q, Comet, Currys, Blockbuster, Staples and Homebase - The Edge is stuck a few miles outside Brentwood on a retail park. There, the big shops sit like fat kings with carpark courtyards, and their peasant subjects arrive in Ford Fiestas and Japanese people-carriers.'
Julie's best friend is the boy next door, Luke, who's allergic to the sun and has stayed indoors his entire life. All he knows about the world he's learned from television and he has a library full of videotapes: 'Programmes full of shiny white American malls, clean beaches, best buddies, teen angst, high schools with cheerleaders, soccer pitches, geeks, girls with suntans and blonde highlights, long corridors with lockers and feuds, and perfect stories. He doesn't call them programmes, though. He calls them 'shows', and he calls the pavement the 'sidewalk'. Luke has a slight American accent although he's never been to America.'
Living life through television doesn't make him all that different from a lot of ordinary people, a point that might have been interesting if only Thomas hadn't rammed it home so many times throughout the book.
Julie works as a waitress, but she's no dummy - in fact she's a maths genius. She deliberately failed her A-levels so she wouldn't have to go to college and leave Luke. Now she works out quantum theories in her head while waiting tables in the restaurant. She's happy with the way things are, but when Luke learns of a Chinese man who could heal his disease, the two of them, along with some other friends, set off on a road trip to find the healer and cure Luke once and for all.