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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
read this for uni — enjoyed it a lot more than i thought i would. the depiction of mental health was so raw and painful, and once i got into it, i actually couldn’t put it down. some parts really shocked me, others made me sad and i did tear up at the end
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
I don't think I've ever read a book so quick in my life. Such a gripping and heart felt story that matures as the main character ages, which is one of my favorite types of writing styles.
It's extremely sad at times but an accurate portrayal of mental health issues.
It's extremely sad at times but an accurate portrayal of mental health issues.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fully deserves the 5 stars I gave it. The writing in this book is refreshing and sheds different light on mental health than most books do. I adore this book and it’s definitely up there with my favorites!
This was a beautiful book.
Books about mental illness hit home for me, and this one wasn't an exception. It's beautifully written and I really appreciate Nathan Filer writing style, such an amazing portrait of not only what a mental illness can do to your life but also how it actually feels.
Very emotional. At times confusing, but overall necessary.
Books about mental illness hit home for me, and this one wasn't an exception. It's beautifully written and I really appreciate Nathan Filer writing style, such an amazing portrait of not only what a mental illness can do to your life but also how it actually feels.
Very emotional. At times confusing, but overall necessary.
Very interesting fictional read focusing on mental health and dealing with grief.
A very moving book dealing with sensitive and complicated issues. I found myself unable to put it down.
The shock of the fall review
If you loathe an unreliable narrator, do not read this book.
The Shock of the Fall follows a protagonist with an undisclosed mental illness - detailed later in the book - as he recounts the childhood death of his brother. It chronicles how his brother’s death forever changed him and left a dark mark on his family.
The chronology of the novel jumps back and forth between his childhood, high school, late teens, and the present day - where he writes his story from the computer station at a mental health facility. Admittedly I don’t read much in the contemporary fiction genre, but the writing style and voice of the protagonist is very unique - it’s schizophrenic (spoiler: that’s the mental illness) and he thrashes between being hyper focused or having the attention span of a gnat.
While I’m not remotely an expert in the field, The Shock of the Fall is an interesting portrayal of schizophrenia. I had this notion that a patient with schizophrenia has multiple voices in their head which incite them to do violent things, however Matt’s life was very different. There was the one voice, the one hallucination - his younger brother Simon - and Simon was nothing but benign. Granted, Matt wasn’t really able to take care of himself and tick those “adulting” checkboxes, but I’m unsure as to whether that’s a symptom of the schizophrenia or not.
In addition to being an interesting portrayal of the mental illness, this novel raises question of the chicken and the egg with regards to both Matt and his mother. Would Matt have always developed schizophrenia, or was it the direct result of a psychological break after Simon’s death? And was Matt’s mother always displaying erratic Munchausen-esque behaviour, or did this begin after Simon’s death?
Matt’s mother constantly wrapped him in cotton wool and went to the doctor more frequently than most people take a crap, and always made a point to laud his fragility and “otherness” in front of his former schoolmates. As we obviously never get to hear from Simon’s perspective, it’s unclear as to whether she exhibited the same behaviour with Simon, but Simon was unable to vocalise it or didn’t recognise it as abnormal. And given that Matt’s father is emotionally absent for virtually all of his life, he’s unable to shed any light on the situation.
Tl;dr - both of Matt’s parents are awful. Even prior to Simon’s death, Matt functions in more of a carer role than any young person should have to - whether their sibling is able bodied or not. And in spite of how close Matt was to Simon, both parents deprive him of the time and space to grieve and force him to move on with his life. There’s no hard and fast rule for parenting - or parenting after the death of a child - but they sure served as a lesson on what not to do.
Thank god for Nanny Noo: Matt’s grandmother and the only positive adult figure in his story. While I’m sure somebody out there has criticised Nanny Noo for being too perfect, she’s exactly what Matt and this story needed. She was the victim of horrific violence in her youth that saw her brother consequently develop a mental illness, and yet she was able to overcome it and develop into a strong, compassionate female figure. She empathises with Matt’s struggles and is always compassionate, and yet she’s strong enough to call him out on his shit. She wants to see him succeed and be healthy, and yet she recognises that he’s a grown man who can make his own decisions.
She represents something I know I struggle with when it comes to friends: no matter how much you might care for someone, you can’t force them to get help. Only they can recognise when they need help and ask for it. Legally, physically, and morally, you cannot force someone to do what you want them to do - even if it’s better for them.
And on the other end of that spectrum we have the UK’s mental health system. While it’s no One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, this novel paints an incredibly bleak portrait of someone inside the system. When Matt’s in treatment he’s reduced to something less than human - his day involving little more than smoking, having the odd wank, and chugging down medication when he’s told to. When Matt’s unable or unwilling to access treatment he clearly goes downhill, physically and mentally, but he’s no longer this impotent, fuzzy-headed shell of a person, who can’t be trusted to tie his own shoelaces. And yet once someone is inside the system, you can never truly be out - there’s always going to be a black mark on his record, a letter that comes in the mail, a review board who wants to meet. It’s oppressive and stifling.
Overall: I don’t frequent the contemporary fiction genre often, but I can see why The Shock of the Fall has shot up the bestseller lists. It’s an interesting examination of schizophrenia, the UK’s mental health system, grief and loss, all wrapped up in one jarring, unreliably narrated bow. Matt’s is a voice that I don’t hear often (pun not intended), and it just works. Not the type of story I’d rush out and read again in a hurry, but I absolutely recommend it to fans of the genre.
If you loathe an unreliable narrator, do not read this book.
The Shock of the Fall follows a protagonist with an undisclosed mental illness - detailed later in the book - as he recounts the childhood death of his brother. It chronicles how his brother’s death forever changed him and left a dark mark on his family.
The chronology of the novel jumps back and forth between his childhood, high school, late teens, and the present day - where he writes his story from the computer station at a mental health facility. Admittedly I don’t read much in the contemporary fiction genre, but the writing style and voice of the protagonist is very unique - it’s schizophrenic (spoiler: that’s the mental illness) and he thrashes between being hyper focused or having the attention span of a gnat.
While I’m not remotely an expert in the field, The Shock of the Fall is an interesting portrayal of schizophrenia. I had this notion that a patient with schizophrenia has multiple voices in their head which incite them to do violent things, however Matt’s life was very different. There was the one voice, the one hallucination - his younger brother Simon - and Simon was nothing but benign. Granted, Matt wasn’t really able to take care of himself and tick those “adulting” checkboxes, but I’m unsure as to whether that’s a symptom of the schizophrenia or not.
In addition to being an interesting portrayal of the mental illness, this novel raises question of the chicken and the egg with regards to both Matt and his mother. Would Matt have always developed schizophrenia, or was it the direct result of a psychological break after Simon’s death? And was Matt’s mother always displaying erratic Munchausen-esque behaviour, or did this begin after Simon’s death?
Matt’s mother constantly wrapped him in cotton wool and went to the doctor more frequently than most people take a crap, and always made a point to laud his fragility and “otherness” in front of his former schoolmates. As we obviously never get to hear from Simon’s perspective, it’s unclear as to whether she exhibited the same behaviour with Simon, but Simon was unable to vocalise it or didn’t recognise it as abnormal. And given that Matt’s father is emotionally absent for virtually all of his life, he’s unable to shed any light on the situation.
Tl;dr - both of Matt’s parents are awful. Even prior to Simon’s death, Matt functions in more of a carer role than any young person should have to - whether their sibling is able bodied or not. And in spite of how close Matt was to Simon, both parents deprive him of the time and space to grieve and force him to move on with his life. There’s no hard and fast rule for parenting - or parenting after the death of a child - but they sure served as a lesson on what not to do.
Thank god for Nanny Noo: Matt’s grandmother and the only positive adult figure in his story. While I’m sure somebody out there has criticised Nanny Noo for being too perfect, she’s exactly what Matt and this story needed. She was the victim of horrific violence in her youth that saw her brother consequently develop a mental illness, and yet she was able to overcome it and develop into a strong, compassionate female figure. She empathises with Matt’s struggles and is always compassionate, and yet she’s strong enough to call him out on his shit. She wants to see him succeed and be healthy, and yet she recognises that he’s a grown man who can make his own decisions.
She represents something I know I struggle with when it comes to friends: no matter how much you might care for someone, you can’t force them to get help. Only they can recognise when they need help and ask for it. Legally, physically, and morally, you cannot force someone to do what you want them to do - even if it’s better for them.
And on the other end of that spectrum we have the UK’s mental health system. While it’s no One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, this novel paints an incredibly bleak portrait of someone inside the system. When Matt’s in treatment he’s reduced to something less than human - his day involving little more than smoking, having the odd wank, and chugging down medication when he’s told to. When Matt’s unable or unwilling to access treatment he clearly goes downhill, physically and mentally, but he’s no longer this impotent, fuzzy-headed shell of a person, who can’t be trusted to tie his own shoelaces. And yet once someone is inside the system, you can never truly be out - there’s always going to be a black mark on his record, a letter that comes in the mail, a review board who wants to meet. It’s oppressive and stifling.
Overall: I don’t frequent the contemporary fiction genre often, but I can see why The Shock of the Fall has shot up the bestseller lists. It’s an interesting examination of schizophrenia, the UK’s mental health system, grief and loss, all wrapped up in one jarring, unreliably narrated bow. Matt’s is a voice that I don’t hear often (pun not intended), and it just works. Not the type of story I’d rush out and read again in a hurry, but I absolutely recommend it to fans of the genre.
This is the 2013 Costa Book of the Year and the book for my work book club this month.
This is the story about Matthew Homes and his life, struggles and challenges, living with schizophrenia and dealing with grief.
I've worked as a health professional in a mental health service, and some of the themes that are described are very close to the reality of people who work and live with mental illness.
I thought this book was going to captivate me more than it did. Especially due to the theme. But, I found it hard to connect with.
I think it's confusing, at times, when he went back and forth. I understand that this was to represent the disorganised thinking that is so present in this condition, and we are reading from Matt's POV, who is an unreliable narrator. But as a reader, it was hard to follow.
Now, I did love how he wasn't patronising in describing Simon, a child with Down's Syndrome. I loved how independent, caring, and fierce he was.
Moreover, I loved how he depicted Matt's struggles, whilst being admitted to a psych ward, the challenges in the community support network, the side effects of the multiple medications this patients/service users have to take, and the truth representation that there are contant up and downs in Mental Illness.
I wished we could have read a bit more of what his parents felt throughout all of this, and have more examples of his mother "being mad". Was this part of his delusions? This would definitely be up for discussion.
Overall, I enjoyed it. The last few chapters were touching and emotional. This was when I mostly felt any kind of connection with the book.
If you enjoy reading something with a different narrative that depicts grief and mental illness, then this is for you.
This is the story about Matthew Homes and his life, struggles and challenges, living with schizophrenia and dealing with grief.
I've worked as a health professional in a mental health service, and some of the themes that are described are very close to the reality of people who work and live with mental illness.
I thought this book was going to captivate me more than it did. Especially due to the theme. But, I found it hard to connect with.
I think it's confusing, at times, when he went back and forth. I understand that this was to represent the disorganised thinking that is so present in this condition, and we are reading from Matt's POV, who is an unreliable narrator. But as a reader, it was hard to follow.
Now, I did love how he wasn't patronising in describing Simon, a child with Down's Syndrome. I loved how independent, caring, and fierce he was.
Moreover, I loved how he depicted Matt's struggles, whilst being admitted to a psych ward, the challenges in the community support network, the side effects of the multiple medications this patients/service users have to take, and the truth representation that there are contant up and downs in Mental Illness.
I wished we could have read a bit more of what his parents felt throughout all of this, and have more examples of his mother "being mad". Was this part of his delusions? This would definitely be up for discussion.
Overall, I enjoyed it. The last few chapters were touching and emotional. This was when I mostly felt any kind of connection with the book.
If you enjoy reading something with a different narrative that depicts grief and mental illness, then this is for you.