BRITISH novelist Paul Torday's best-selling debut novel, Salmon Fishing In The Yemen (2007), was a snarky but feel-good comedy involving a protagonist who breaks out of quotidian drudgery thanks to a new passion - fishing.

In his second, there is again a protagonist who raises his nose from the grindstone to discover a hitherto unfelt passion (in this case, wine), the new obsession changing his life forever.

Unfortunately, what is in store for the hero is less comedy and more tragedy. Wilberforce's unhappy fate is revealed one-quarter of the way into the novel, as his story is told back to front: The book is divided into four sections, beginning in 2006 and ending in 2002.

In the beginning, he seems like an urbane, if somewhat pretentious, wine aficionado, who is dining at a chic London restaurant for the express purpose of sampling a rare and very expensive bottle of wine. However, as one bottle becomes two, the reader soon discovers the fine line between a connoisseur and a drunkard.

It is clear that Wilberforce is an alcoholic who has destroyed his bank balance and his health in service to his addiction, even as he deludes himself that he is above such crassness: 'An alcoholic, which I am not and never have been, would not have sat and let (the wine) breathe for half an hour, and let it come up towards room temperature.'

Despite the wry humour, this is not a comedy about addiction and recovery. The rest of this engaging if depressing novel examines the making of a loser, revealing his downfall as not so much tragic as pathetic.

He is an introverted computer software genius, and his life is one of isolation and routine until he stumbles upon a wine shop and is miraculously adopted by a smart set of aristocrats and gentry. Educated about wine by the sophisticated if impoverished Francis Black, Wilberforce finds himself suddenly equipped with a hobby, friends and even a love interest.

Everything is set up to be a journey of self-discovery and self-actualisation - except that the reader already knows it all ends badly. As Black portentously says at one point: 'As soon as the wine is opened, it begins to die.'

Torday is a gifted storyteller, his unadorned prose belying the complexity of his characterisations. He avoids the easy sentimentality of the lovable loser, daring to let his book be carried by a narrator who is not only delusional, but also narrow-minded, socially retarded and emotionally stunted.

All this sounds very unpleasant, and it is a testament to the writer's skill that the tone remains snappy and even humorous throughout, albeit with a bitter undertone.

And as even the most hopeful events are soured by the knowledge of their ultimate falseness, the narrative gains poignancy but denies redemption, leaving the reader feeling empty.

There is no doubt that this book is a haunting dive into a dark corner of the human psyche. But what it lacks is catharsis, that release of emotional tension which, although not mandatory, is what makes reading literature a spiritual experience.

Without it, this book is, to use the obvious wine analogy, like a Bordeaux which possesses all the divine flavours of truffles, spices and fruit, yet is somehow missing the alcohol: It's a rich, complex taste, but fails to give the drinker that transcendental buzz.

If you like this, read: Two Caravans by Marina Lewycka (2007, $32.64 with GST, Books Kinokuniya)

This novel about illegal immigrants in England combines bleak despair with biting humour.

THE IRRESISTIBLE INHERITANCE OF WILBERFORCE
By Paul Torday
Weidenfeld & Nicolson/Paperback/
308 pages/$30.79 (without GST)/ Major bookstores
*** 1/2