Wild Ink begins in the ordinary world of our main character, Albert Chaliapin, a 59 year-old cartoon editor, who is hospitalised due to his ‘troublesome liver.’ He’s minus a kidney, part of his bowel, and has pressure sores that he refers to as his ‘war wounds.’ Prepare to cringe when he describes how he induces sleep. Things aren’t looking good for Chaliapin, in fact, he says he’s a dead man.
His uneventful existence – bedbound – is eased by the daily care given by Paula, his nurse, a constant in his story and someone who he relies on as a confidant. They share a connection as well as the in-joke about his Russian name, which she and other characters deliberately – or not – pronounce as Chaplin. In response he spells it out: C-h-a-l-i-a-p-i-n.
There’s a glimmer of hope with the arrival Citizen Wilson, an anonymous cartoon strip, which intrigues Chaliapin yet toys with his mind as he wrestles with memories of his father, and past loves. Is Wilson surreal or is Chaliapin’s mental stability waning?
Other male characters: Stoop, his boss who he calls ‘bum-hole;’ Insmith, Quisset, and Stainger – all with concerns of their own – play their parts in showing Chaliapin as a man with strengths and vulnerabilities, through drunken London pub crawls chasing ghosts, and running away from death.
Wild Ink takes you on a man’s journey along parts of his lifeline, reflecting on the ‘what-ifs,’ which haunts his present and could inform his uncertain future. By escaping the confines of mundanity does Chaliapin find the answers he seeks? I think he gives it a damn good try. At least he can say he has lived, even if it was on the brink. Ultimately, this book is about friendships and the fragility of life in its many states made clear through the emotions and humour of the writing.
Richard Smyth is a writer and journalist, and author of short fiction, and non-fiction. He won the 2013 LS13 prize for his short fiction story ‘Deep.’
Wild Ink is published by Dead Ink Books and is Richard Smyth’s debut fiction novel.
@RSmythFreelance
Reviewed by: Debbie Coope