Reading log | Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan

A chaotic reading log spanning two library holds

One of my libraries (yes, I have several) has a strict 21-day policy and of course, this is where I got my ebook copy of the 614-page Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan. It was a bit ambitious, given the year-end work rush and general life happenings, and borrowed ebooks are unforgiving with automatic requisitions when your hold expires. But when a library hold beckons, you answer.

It was always going to be chaotic, and I have documented my progress in a reading log for all to behold.

18 Nov: 5%. Why is there a character index?? What have I gotten myself into? I like the setting so far—it’s a part of London I’m familiar with.

19 Nov: 11%.

20 Nov: 21%. We have crossed the line from ‘ooh familiar’ to ‘this is a personal attack’. Why are the most insufferable characters from my Cambridge college?? Why does Campbell make liking St JOHN a negative character trait? Side note: Fergus, one of the restaurant’s co-founders, emailed me personally last year… I actually do like St JOHN and want to go back for their marrow one day (they were sold out when I went).

22 Nov: 23%. ‘Sometimes you have to go through layers to get to a person, and when you arrive they’re still not there.’

23 Nov: 29%.

24 Nov: 31%.

28 Nov: 34%. I’m a third in and there’s a reference to a place I know every 3 pages. I thought that would make this a fun read, and yes, it’s fun, if you consider my face regularly contorting fun. I’m still smarting over the unflattering portrayal of my college.

30 Nov: 51%. We’re finally in the less familiar neighbourhood of Reykjavik! I have visited Iceland, but not for long enough to know its minutiae.

01 Dec: 56%. Okay, things are getting interesting. Something’s going on beyond rich kids being snobs, and it’s not good.

02 Dec: 63%. Ahh, the discomfort of friends we don’t agree with. Campbell’s clearly out of his comfort zone. And here’s an interesting character with a particularly heartbreaking line: ‘She felt brand new, the smoke curling, like somebody found you and kept their promise.’

09 Dec: 65%. I tried, I failed. My library hold has finished and the ebook got requisitioned from my possession. I have placed another hold and it will be my turn in 3 weeks, so I might still be able to finish the book this year.

16 Dec: 73%. I’M BACK. My library hold came in earlier than expected! Clearly bouyed by relief and newfound optimism, I went on a bit of a binge read and got through quite a bit today, when the entire story erupted. I’d also been struggling to understand Campbell and sometimes, it takes another perspective to shed some light. Elizabeth does heavy lifting here, giving clarity to Campbell’s internal plight: ‘[He] might occasionally be haunted by a “false self”. […] A person you’re not, but who feels essential. In other words, a made-up self that a person can use as a shield to protect their true self.’

18 Dec: 95%. We’re almost there but alas, sleep beckons. Tomorrow will be the day…

19 Dec: 100%. One month and one day. Not bad for a 614-page book, especially since I went a couple of weeks without even touching it. But two separate library holds. I will write a full review separately, but for now: Caledonian Road paints vivid pictures of disparate parts of society that people who live somewhere in the middle rarely get to see laid so bare. I need to sit on this before writing a review—I think its setting in an area of London I’m so familiar with makes it hard for me to detach, though I suppose why I started Reads With Alicia is exactly so I can write personal reviews. Perhaps next year I’ll read one set in Oxford Street, Shoreditch, or Cambridge.

With that, I hope you have enjoyed this reading log!

P.S. I’ll be back next Friday with my favourite books of 2024. Until then, happy holidays and merry Christmas my dear fellow book-lovers.