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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
This novel is about a young man named Matthew and as the story progresses, so does he and his mental illness. Nathan Filer managed to create the most intriguing, gut wrenching and brutally honest novel about mental health issues from the perfect perspective; the sufferer. His background is within mental health nursing, so it makes sense that this novel captures the true essence of life and its struggles for any person suffering from any kind of illness. Matthew begins by talking extensively about his family; his mother, father and his older brother. From the get go it is apparent that Simon has Down's Syndrome and that Matthew is retelling a true story. The first chapter begins by mentioning, quite simply, that 'in a couple of pages he'll be dead'. From fairly early on, it is clear that Matt blames himself massively for his older brothers death.
The narrative style being from Matthew's perspective was what truly made this novel so worth the read; using his own therapeutic way of typing out his past (and at times the present) as though it were a story made it feel more real, somehow. Matthew suffers from schizophrenia and so at times, the narration could be argued as being largely unreliable as he regularly interrupts himself, losing his train of thought or suddenly wanders off onto a tangent. However, when you fit his mental illness into the puzzle, it does make sense that his thoughts would become jumbled. As a reader you hear about his childhood, watching his mother struggle with her own demons, life after his brothers death as well as his teenage years, smoking weed and other drugs with his best and only friend, Jacob who he met at Secondary School. It was after helping Jacob care for his disabled mother that Matthew got a job in a care home for some time.
In fact, it seems like Matt is far more capable of taking care of others than he is of himself; he manages to work a lot, hold down a job and flat all whilst living in filth and relying on drug and alcohol binges far too often; his Nanny Noo seems to be his saving grace for the majority of the novel, regularly visiting him and never judging. If weren't for her, he would never have received any help. For a lot of the novel you get a glimpse into what life is like living in a hospital. Matt often feels trapped inside his mind, physically and mentally. However he seems to find it easy to express these feelings through words on a page; he talked a lot about his favourite gift, his old typewriter from Nanny Noo and how he has always been creative, excelling at writing and the arts like drawing and painting. Throughout the novel, he talks extensively about his brother and how Simon is always in the room and he often hears his voice; however old Matt is, he always seems to imagine Simon at 12 years old, the age he was at the time of his death.
Overall, I absolutely adored this novel; Filer has compiled an excellent debut with a fantastic understanding of mental illness as well as the feelings of grief and loss. This story, although ultimately about Matthew, was also about how grief tears apart families, how many struggle to cope with the pain of losing a loved one. There was a lot of pain to be felt throughout the pages of this book; however the constant reminders of pain are described both accurately and realistically. Matthew's story never (at any point) glamourises mental illness or psychiatric hospitals, instead a believable yet shocking and deeply saddening story comes through. As much as Matt is both intelligent and caring, his health does affect not only him but his family and it is hard to read how individually they somehow struggle through their ordeal. My favourite character was one we only gained a glimpse from; Annabelle was a terrific insight into grief and how to handle it. This book was a excellent read, despite its tough content and I couldn't stop reading once I'd started, the writing is brilliantly handled; definitely worth the read.
The narrative style being from Matthew's perspective was what truly made this novel so worth the read; using his own therapeutic way of typing out his past (and at times the present) as though it were a story made it feel more real, somehow. Matthew suffers from schizophrenia and so at times, the narration could be argued as being largely unreliable as he regularly interrupts himself, losing his train of thought or suddenly wanders off onto a tangent. However, when you fit his mental illness into the puzzle, it does make sense that his thoughts would become jumbled. As a reader you hear about his childhood, watching his mother struggle with her own demons, life after his brothers death as well as his teenage years, smoking weed and other drugs with his best and only friend, Jacob who he met at Secondary School. It was after helping Jacob care for his disabled mother that Matthew got a job in a care home for some time.
In fact, it seems like Matt is far more capable of taking care of others than he is of himself; he manages to work a lot, hold down a job and flat all whilst living in filth and relying on drug and alcohol binges far too often; his Nanny Noo seems to be his saving grace for the majority of the novel, regularly visiting him and never judging. If weren't for her, he would never have received any help. For a lot of the novel you get a glimpse into what life is like living in a hospital. Matt often feels trapped inside his mind, physically and mentally. However he seems to find it easy to express these feelings through words on a page; he talked a lot about his favourite gift, his old typewriter from Nanny Noo and how he has always been creative, excelling at writing and the arts like drawing and painting. Throughout the novel, he talks extensively about his brother and how Simon is always in the room and he often hears his voice; however old Matt is, he always seems to imagine Simon at 12 years old, the age he was at the time of his death.
Overall, I absolutely adored this novel; Filer has compiled an excellent debut with a fantastic understanding of mental illness as well as the feelings of grief and loss. This story, although ultimately about Matthew, was also about how grief tears apart families, how many struggle to cope with the pain of losing a loved one. There was a lot of pain to be felt throughout the pages of this book; however the constant reminders of pain are described both accurately and realistically. Matthew's story never (at any point) glamourises mental illness or psychiatric hospitals, instead a believable yet shocking and deeply saddening story comes through. As much as Matt is both intelligent and caring, his health does affect not only him but his family and it is hard to read how individually they somehow struggle through their ordeal. My favourite character was one we only gained a glimpse from; Annabelle was a terrific insight into grief and how to handle it. This book was a excellent read, despite its tough content and I couldn't stop reading once I'd started, the writing is brilliantly handled; definitely worth the read.
Por que não espreita as nossas reviews em www.dosnossoslivros.blogspot.com ? Temos imensas!
‘I’ll tell you what happened because it will be a good way to introduce my brother. His name’s Simon. I think you’re going to like him. I really do. But in a couple of pages he’ll be dead. And he was never the same after that.’
Sou sempre apanhada por sinopses destas que, quase sempre, me fazem adivinhar um enredo trágico-cómico. Sigo sempre estes instintos. E não me desiludo se acabar a ler um enredo com o qual não contava - aconteceu este ano com We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. Curiosamente, The Shock Of The Fall é, também como aquele, um livro sobre irmãos, sobre uma relação em que um dos irmãos é diferente, e sobre as consequências que advêm dessa mesma relação. Acontece que, neste caso, não apenas um dos irmãos tem alguma característica diferente; aqui, Simon tem Síndroma de Down e Matthew, o narrador e personagem principal, é esquizofrénico.
E aqui adensou-se o meu interesse por este livro. Nos últimos tempos, desenvolvi um grande interesse por doenças neuropsiquiátricas e, como saberão alguns, é nisso que trabalho (ou tento). Por isso, conheço da literatura científica algumas informações sobre esquizofrenia, o que me deixou seguir os relatos de Matthew com enorme curiosidade. Depois de ter lido um livro escrito do ponto de vista de uma mulher com Alzheimer, agora leio as subidas e descidas, as halucinações, os relatos estranhos e profundos de um cérebro esquizofrénico, que tenta ao máximo manter-se à superfície da realidade. Mas acontecimentos adversos em idade juvenil propenciam o desenvolvimento de doenças neuropsiquiátricas em pessoas com predisposição genética para tal. Assim, a morte de Simon, logo anunciada na sinopse deste livro, torna-se o motivo pelo qual Matthew sucumbe e resiste, sucumbe e resiste, ao chamamento desta doença com que ele tenta viver.
Gostei deste livro, mas só me apercebi disso já perto do final. Durante a maior parte do tempo, o enredo não me chamava muito e tive dificuldade em deixar-me levar por ele. Quando decidi que tinha de me despachar a ler este livro, para poder seguir para outros, peguei na leitura a sério e acabei por ser transportada rapidamente ao longo das páginas. Por isso, se o lerem, não se preocupem. O livro é interessante.
‘I’ll tell you what happened because it will be a good way to introduce my brother. His name’s Simon. I think you’re going to like him. I really do. But in a couple of pages he’ll be dead. And he was never the same after that.’
Sou sempre apanhada por sinopses destas que, quase sempre, me fazem adivinhar um enredo trágico-cómico. Sigo sempre estes instintos. E não me desiludo se acabar a ler um enredo com o qual não contava - aconteceu este ano com We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. Curiosamente, The Shock Of The Fall é, também como aquele, um livro sobre irmãos, sobre uma relação em que um dos irmãos é diferente, e sobre as consequências que advêm dessa mesma relação. Acontece que, neste caso, não apenas um dos irmãos tem alguma característica diferente; aqui, Simon tem Síndroma de Down e Matthew, o narrador e personagem principal, é esquizofrénico.
E aqui adensou-se o meu interesse por este livro. Nos últimos tempos, desenvolvi um grande interesse por doenças neuropsiquiátricas e, como saberão alguns, é nisso que trabalho (ou tento). Por isso, conheço da literatura científica algumas informações sobre esquizofrenia, o que me deixou seguir os relatos de Matthew com enorme curiosidade. Depois de ter lido um livro escrito do ponto de vista de uma mulher com Alzheimer, agora leio as subidas e descidas, as halucinações, os relatos estranhos e profundos de um cérebro esquizofrénico, que tenta ao máximo manter-se à superfície da realidade. Mas acontecimentos adversos em idade juvenil propenciam o desenvolvimento de doenças neuropsiquiátricas em pessoas com predisposição genética para tal. Assim, a morte de Simon, logo anunciada na sinopse deste livro, torna-se o motivo pelo qual Matthew sucumbe e resiste, sucumbe e resiste, ao chamamento desta doença com que ele tenta viver.
Gostei deste livro, mas só me apercebi disso já perto do final. Durante a maior parte do tempo, o enredo não me chamava muito e tive dificuldade em deixar-me levar por ele. Quando decidi que tinha de me despachar a ler este livro, para poder seguir para outros, peguei na leitura a sério e acabei por ser transportada rapidamente ao longo das páginas. Por isso, se o lerem, não se preocupem. O livro é interessante.
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Almost made it to the end without shedding a tear— it was beautifully and brutally honest
I just couldn’t get into this. By page 60 I had no idea what the story was about or who the characters were. Life is too short for me to spend another 60 pages trying to figure it out!
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So heartbreakingly beautiful. It’s not just words. It’s a voice. Listen to him. Listen to Matthew tell his story. Walk with him. And you’ll know what I mean.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I definitely think this is one of the best appropriations of a troubled, psychotic individual on the written page. The imbibing of the psyche by an author of a precocious narrator with pathology, invading his thoughts and then making him write these and his own movements in endearing first person is no mean feat, but debutante Filer pulls it off with the slickness that reminds me of Mark Haddon's similar attempt a decade back with the Curious Incident.
If there is something stopping me to praise this to the heaven, it's that I felt some of the design tropes taken by the obviously-smitten creative team working with Filer were superfluous (especially the random drawings). They gave an impression of something more being afoot than just the different typing instruments available to our narrator. Also, the smokes-and-mirrors created by the flashbacks and two intertwined tragic incidents of childhood were milked for far too long and lost my interest before the lead-up to the climax.
Having said that, I have never read a better reconstruction of the confines of an average mental health unit. Having worked in one of the East London hospitals myself, Filer through his fictional surrogate, Matthew, moves about and documents the passage of time and people with such exactitude, I felt like I was back in those corridors. All the subtle sweeps at the gone-cynical patients, resource-strapped today-here-tomorrow-nowhere initiatives, ward-round meetings, litany of labels, rampant prescribing were definitely not missed by the reader. I did come to care deeply for Matthew but am not sure if I bought the brute force of the personal tragedy and resultant relief he felt in an over-choreographed-for-finale family reunion. But a good, creative debut.
If there is something stopping me to praise this to the heaven, it's that I felt some of the design tropes taken by the obviously-smitten creative team working with Filer were superfluous (especially the random drawings). They gave an impression of something more being afoot than just the different typing instruments available to our narrator. Also, the smokes-and-mirrors created by the flashbacks and two intertwined tragic incidents of childhood were milked for far too long and lost my interest before the lead-up to the climax.
Having said that, I have never read a better reconstruction of the confines of an average mental health unit. Having worked in one of the East London hospitals myself, Filer through his fictional surrogate, Matthew, moves about and documents the passage of time and people with such exactitude, I felt like I was back in those corridors. All the subtle sweeps at the gone-cynical patients, resource-strapped today-here-tomorrow-nowhere initiatives, ward-round meetings, litany of labels, rampant prescribing were definitely not missed by the reader. I did come to care deeply for Matthew but am not sure if I bought the brute force of the personal tragedy and resultant relief he felt in an over-choreographed-for-finale family reunion. But a good, creative debut.
I seriously have no idea how to put my feelings into words after reading this book...
It has impacted me a great deal and I have learned a lot from reading this book.
I have learned that some stories in our lives leaves a scar so deep that it takes months perhaps years to accept that what has happened has happened; learn from it and move on because you really cannot help it...
I have learned that you can never draw an ending line when it comes to "grief".
I have learned that going through the most difficult phase of one's life with an illness that slithers like a snake is much more difficult than that one can explain.
That Death is not really when a person stop living and breathing from this world.
I don't want to spoil this book for anyone by giving this a cliched review but it's a contextually heavy book-even though it's a 300 page novel, the overwhelming feeling it gives off is ten ties more than the numbered pages. The book pulls you in as soon as you start reading; and the more you keep reading the more deeper you venture until it starts to really "get" to you and you feel like you shouldn't be reading this...but you NEED to.
A constant page turner with a real twist of suspense and I really like the symbolical illustrations and narrative. This entire novel is so rich and every page has so much meaning that it's hard to not think about it and control the urge to re-read it all over again, from scratch!
The pain and suffering and sorrow is so REAL that it emotionally and mentally blew me away!
It has impacted me a great deal and I have learned a lot from reading this book.
I have learned that some stories in our lives leaves a scar so deep that it takes months perhaps years to accept that what has happened has happened; learn from it and move on because you really cannot help it...
I have learned that you can never draw an ending line when it comes to "grief".
I have learned that going through the most difficult phase of one's life with an illness that slithers like a snake is much more difficult than that one can explain.
That Death is not really when a person stop living and breathing from this world.
I don't want to spoil this book for anyone by giving this a cliched review but it's a contextually heavy book-even though it's a 300 page novel, the overwhelming feeling it gives off is ten ties more than the numbered pages. The book pulls you in as soon as you start reading; and the more you keep reading the more deeper you venture until it starts to really "get" to you and you feel like you shouldn't be reading this...but you NEED to.
A constant page turner with a real twist of suspense and I really like the symbolical illustrations and narrative. This entire novel is so rich and every page has so much meaning that it's hard to not think about it and control the urge to re-read it all over again, from scratch!
The pain and suffering and sorrow is so REAL that it emotionally and mentally blew me away!