Scan barcode
chrissireads's review against another edition
4.0
I pre-ordered all of the Waterstones 11 books for 2013 from debut authors, without reading what they were about. I wanted to go into reading them with open eyes.
The Son is an incredibly emotional read. It’s a short story, but not one that is enjoyable or comfortable to read. It’s about a subject that no parent wants to experience. The death of their child. It is such a well written book and I would say that it’s an important book for those dealing with a bereavement.
By telling it from Lion’s (Michel’s son) voice it doesn’t come across as too sentimental. The grief is clearly expressed, but Michel uses his son’s voice to express the regrets he had as Lion was dying. Michel documents the death and the preparations for the funeral. I found myself feeling very moved by the writing. It just felt so raw and honest. I really respect Michel Rostain for documenting the journey of grief in this way. I’m sure he’s helped many individuals suffering from the loss of a loved one.
I thoroughly recommend this book. It’s not an easy to read or a light read full of fluff. It’s a true, raw, beautiful read.
The Son is an incredibly emotional read. It’s a short story, but not one that is enjoyable or comfortable to read. It’s about a subject that no parent wants to experience. The death of their child. It is such a well written book and I would say that it’s an important book for those dealing with a bereavement.
By telling it from Lion’s (Michel’s son) voice it doesn’t come across as too sentimental. The grief is clearly expressed, but Michel uses his son’s voice to express the regrets he had as Lion was dying. Michel documents the death and the preparations for the funeral. I found myself feeling very moved by the writing. It just felt so raw and honest. I really respect Michel Rostain for documenting the journey of grief in this way. I’m sure he’s helped many individuals suffering from the loss of a loved one.
I thoroughly recommend this book. It’s not an easy to read or a light read full of fluff. It’s a true, raw, beautiful read.
bibliobethreads's review against another edition
4.0
The Son is the June selection from the Waterstones Eleven debut authors. It is a highly emotional and moving read that blends memoir and fiction seamlessly, exploring grief and loss through the son’s eyes after his death as he watches his parents (specifically his father Michel) come to terms with their loss. Lion dies quite suddenly and unexpectedly after succumbing to the horror that is meningitis, and the story is told by flipping backwards and forwards from just before his death, to his actual death, the funeral, and the time afterwards which can only be described as heart breaking.
I read somewhere that there are no words to describe parents who have lost a child. When we think of the word “orphan,” we automatically picture a child who has lost their parents, but do we use the same word to describe parents who have lost their child? Especially since it is usually expected that parents will die before their children, so to have the tables turned so as to speak, must be a horror that is indescribable. I found the section describing Lion’s illness, especially when it worsened, particularly hard to read and it must have been incredibly difficult to write. The quote below was particularly poignant:
“We don’t yet know when we’ll die, but the unknown is only ever two numerals away.”
Throughout it all, despite the immense grief and suffering, Michel comes across as a strong, talented and admirable individual – the sub-title of the book being: This is not a book about death. It’s a book about life.”
I respect the author for the strength it must have taken to write this book, and enjoyed the moments of humour and the richness of the writing. I highly recommend it as a truly thought provoking novel which offers hope and positivity for the future ahead.
Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.wordpress.com
I read somewhere that there are no words to describe parents who have lost a child. When we think of the word “orphan,” we automatically picture a child who has lost their parents, but do we use the same word to describe parents who have lost their child? Especially since it is usually expected that parents will die before their children, so to have the tables turned so as to speak, must be a horror that is indescribable. I found the section describing Lion’s illness, especially when it worsened, particularly hard to read and it must have been incredibly difficult to write. The quote below was particularly poignant:
“We don’t yet know when we’ll die, but the unknown is only ever two numerals away.”
Throughout it all, despite the immense grief and suffering, Michel comes across as a strong, talented and admirable individual – the sub-title of the book being: This is not a book about death. It’s a book about life.”
I respect the author for the strength it must have taken to write this book, and enjoyed the moments of humour and the richness of the writing. I highly recommend it as a truly thought provoking novel which offers hope and positivity for the future ahead.
Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.wordpress.com
nicoleburstein's review against another edition
4.0
Moving, beautiful, and faintly funny. The kind of book I want everyone to read, when they need it.
judenoseinabook's review against another edition
3.0
I did not want to read this book once I read the cover blurb. I did not want to hear about someone's son getting meningitis etc - don't want to spoil too much.
It was my book club read so I felt I had to read it. I was pleasantly surprised.
It wasn't all doom and gloom and often quite life affirming.
It was my book club read so I felt I had to read it. I was pleasantly surprised.
It wasn't all doom and gloom and often quite life affirming.
strikingthirteen's review
4.0
Five stars even though I'm not sure I could ever read this again. It's a story about the death of a child - in this case the child is 21 and died from a very bad form of meningitis - with a bit of a twist. Not only is this story true but it is told from the point of view of the recently deceased.
The perspective is slanted, you spend a lot of time with the father, but that is to be expected from the fact that book is written by one parent not both. That's the only little qualm I have with it but it's hardly my place to have any in the face of this unimaginable tragedy. It hurts to read it and it still hurts by the end.
The perspective is slanted, you spend a lot of time with the father, but that is to be expected from the fact that book is written by one parent not both. That's the only little qualm I have with it but it's hardly my place to have any in the face of this unimaginable tragedy. It hurts to read it and it still hurts by the end.
stephend81d5's review
4.0
interesting book part memoirs and part novel of a son who passes away and how the family reacts and what the son sees afterwards. written in a humorous and humane way of looking at death
dearbhla's review
4.0
It is eleven days since our first person narrator has died. He was just twenty one years old when meningitis took him. Now he tells the story of how his parents, specifically his father, are trying to cope with that hard fact. Their son is dead.
This is a true story. But it is also a fiction. Lion, the son, is the reader’s narrator. Telling us that he is there to witness his parent’s tears and grief and despair. It is, as the blurb calls it, a blurring of memoir and fiction. The facts are real, the manner of their telling is fiction.
It is a beautifully constructed story. Heartbreaking, of course, due to its subject matter, but not mawkish or overly sentimental. Anecdotes and stories about the son are revealed, his life shines through in the midst of this tale of his death. He may be gone but he lives on in his parents. But only in their memories. It is this wonderfully terrible mixture of delight in his life and grief that he is gone.
Some of the aspects of the writing didn’t quite work for me. If it is the dead son that is telling the story why does he focus so much on the father and not on the mother? But of course, this is the father writing. He can only tell his memories and thoughts and how he tried to cope with it. But this is a minor quibble, and one that shouldn’t stop anyone reading the book/
The cover says that this is not a book about death it’s a book about life but that life is a life after loss. And that is really what the book revolves around, the death of a child, and how people find a way to go on after such a part of their lives is gone.
This is a true story. But it is also a fiction. Lion, the son, is the reader’s narrator. Telling us that he is there to witness his parent’s tears and grief and despair. It is, as the blurb calls it, a blurring of memoir and fiction. The facts are real, the manner of their telling is fiction.
It is a beautifully constructed story. Heartbreaking, of course, due to its subject matter, but not mawkish or overly sentimental. Anecdotes and stories about the son are revealed, his life shines through in the midst of this tale of his death. He may be gone but he lives on in his parents. But only in their memories. It is this wonderfully terrible mixture of delight in his life and grief that he is gone.
Some of the aspects of the writing didn’t quite work for me. If it is the dead son that is telling the story why does he focus so much on the father and not on the mother? But of course, this is the father writing. He can only tell his memories and thoughts and how he tried to cope with it. But this is a minor quibble, and one that shouldn’t stop anyone reading the book/
The cover says that this is not a book about death it’s a book about life but that life is a life after loss. And that is really what the book revolves around, the death of a child, and how people find a way to go on after such a part of their lives is gone.
More...