Just finished Ben Smith’s debut novel Doggerland, which is a magnificent evocation of loneliness and dampness, sea and failing machinery, with endless searching for both personal and evolutionary history. I loved it – it is affecting and compelling.
Nevertheless, I don’t see the problem with also wanting to go off immediately and attempt a parody – Dogging* land. Balance the serious and profound with the light and ridiculous. Is that ok?
*Actually, this might be tricky to pull off as I confess to knowing more (even before reading this novel) about Dogger than dogging – no, honestly, all I know about dogging I got from Peter Kay’s Car Share.