re:mote voices: literature

Title: Morvern Callar
Author: Alan Warner
Publisher: Vintage

Morvern Callar was the debut novel by Alan Warner. A novelist who has just published his fourth book and seen this first one released as the second film by director Lynne Ramsey. Having seen the film my curiosity was sparked, and I've read a variety of reviews of the film and of the book with interest. Especially of interest are the interpretations of the character Morvern Callar herself, interpretations that I don't necessarily see from either the film or the book - which at times leads me to the belief that some are reading to much into the narrative.

It is often said that a writer's first book is autobiographical. if one were to interpret Warner's presence in Morvern Callar then it is most likely to be as the character that kills himself just before the start. A character who is a writer and has eclectic taste in music, which to some degree certainly seems to describe the author. The effects of this character are felt throughout the book even though he is never actually in it as anything more than a corpse.

Morvern is a 21 year old shelf stacker in a remote highland town. It's off season and coming up for Christmas when her boyfriend decides to kill himself. She leaves the body lying for days, tells people that he has left her and goes through her usual routine in something of a haze. During this time she decides to use the money that he has in his account to get away on the resort holiday she has so long dreamed of. With this there are a stream of events - she realises that he has left her his finished novel for her to get published, and she decides to change it so that her name is on it, and she comes into an inheritance that he had signed over to her. This leaves her sorted for cash with her and her best friend heading off to Spain - living it up in the sun and raving all night. While this seemed like exactly what she wanted it immediately feels hollow to her, and she has to run further away - finding somewhere more excluded still.

Morvern Callar, for me at least, is an enigma. Many are keen to make declarations of who she is, what she stands for. On the one hand Morvern is a woman that is young and likes to party - a child of the raves, to some degree - from the house parties in the highlands to massive warehouse events in Spain. On top of that she changes the name on the book and tries to publish it as her own, removes all the money from his account, then disposes of his body. For many this paints a picture of someone who is canny and calculating. However for me, Morvern is more detached than that - seeming to be a perpetual outsider, she never strikes me as being comfortable with the world around her - at least, not until she has run away from it all. The body of her boyfriend lies around for days, and she goes out of her way to avoid thinking about it - actions that scream denial. Having gone down this route probably makes it easier to accept the decisions that she finally does come up with. Everything about Morvern screams out that she is looking for some answers, though throughout the narration her voice seems to be more removed and separate, a permanent calm that suggests the idea of detachment. The idea that Morvern is an orphan is an undercurrent of the book, her relationship with her step-parents stirring in there and no doubt being a contributing factor in the development of Morvern. It isn't until Morvern is totally away from it all - enough money that she doesn't have to worry for a little while, and the sun above her certainly factor into this, but the whole sense of stillness Morvern attains when she gets away from the resort and sets up a little island of comfort makes so much difference.

Having seen the film before reading the book it is interesting to see the differences, and there are always differences between the two medium. Warner and Ramsey have different approaches, with it being curious how they have played scenes one way or another, emphasised certain threads or ignored them all together. In the book Morvern's step-father and the community have a bigger presence, while in the film her step-father is entirely absent. Before heading off to Spain Morvern has a fight with the friend she is going with, in the book this is a constant edge to their behaviour, while in the film they have totally made up. On the one hand the tension between them contributes to Morvern's desire to flee further, while this seems less obvious in the film. Though in contrast it does almost seem more within character for Morvern not to take the fight too seriously and to make up quickly. Perhaps most striking is that the taking of the novel as her own plays more of a role in the film than the book - being carried around on a disc for some time before its even looked at and then almost forgotten about, compared to the flashing on the screen right from the start of the film.

In language terms Warner is a contemporary Scottish novelist, and as such plays around with the form of narrative to some degree. The language itself is in dialect, presumably derived from the area of the highlands that the character comes from. Some people might find it difficult to comprehend, though in some ways it is a question of rhythm that has to be fallen into. Strangely I suspect some non-Scots might find that an easier exercise, the variation in dialects means that there is a certain overlap between my Glasgow voice and Morvern's, which seems to throw me out more when I come across something that isn't in that overlap. The downside is that some parts feel awkward, part of me says it is just down to the accent/dialect thing, part of me wonders whether it is a stumbling by Warner that doesn't do his character any favours?

For all that I remain bemused by Morvern her life on the screen and page still has something compelling and intriguing to offer.

RVWR: PTR
December 2002