Description: A modern-day Waiting for Godot, with more overt drug references. This clever novel reads like a play, which is why it reminds me of Godot. Here we have two Irish ex-crooks who are waiting for a young woman at the port of Algericas. She doesn’t know they are waiting. It’s darkly comic, full of banter and great Irishisms.
Charlie Redmond and Maurice Hearne are long-time friends, and long-time drug runners. They’ve lucked out, lost out, and now have aged out. They are rundown, just like the terminal at Algericas, where they wait for 23-year-old Dilly who fled Ireland (and her father). They think she’ll be on the boat to or from Tangier. They are lying in wait.
The novel is a mix of stream of consciousness narrative and witty back and forth between the two men, with some prose sections that help fill in the details about how the two men met, their drug running days, romances and fights, and daughter Dilly. The characters are full of mirth, madness, and merriment in a way that reminds me so much of living in Ireland.
Personally speaking, Maurice? My arse isn’t right since the octopus we ate in Malaga.
Is it saying hello to you, Charlie?
It is, yeah. And of course the octopus wasn’t the worst of Malaga.
One of my favourite scenes is when the men accost a young traveller who they assume knows Dilly. They are playful at first, then threatening. The tension is real, especially if you’ve ever been on the receiving end of this type of encounter. It’s not the best scene in the book but it creates discomfort that is riff throughout the novel.
Geography lesson: Tangier is a Moroccan port on the Strait of Gibraltar. Algericas is in Spain and just across the bay from Gibraltar. Imagine that little tip where Europe bends down to the northern tip of Africa.
Night Boat to Tangier is brilliant. It can be hard to like but there is master and genius here. I think the audiobook of this would provide a rich experience with the Irish accent but might be harder to understand.