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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This review isn't going to do the book justice since I finished it over a month ago. Probably more. I don't even want to look. One thing I will say right away is that this is one of the few instances where I actually enjoyed the filmed version better than the book. I don't have any real evidence to back this up since my memory is crap, but all I remember is a feeling that I liked the slight tilt the show put on this episode in Patrick's life just a little bit better than the book version.
This is the one with his mother's funeral in it. There's a lot in here about the dying off of Patrick's demons, made literal in the slow, ugly death of his mother, and the surprising quick one of the last of his father's friends, Nick, a character who's been around since the first book, being a giant prick. It's probably the most comical of the books, with Patrick being in a relatively healthy place emotionally for the first time. The scene where Nicholas keels over at the wake is funny in a terrible way.
Not surprisingly, though, Patrick's problems don't just disappear when his mother dies. He still has to deal with them.
The book ends on a hopeful note, with Patrick seemingly on track to reunite with his family and achieve some form of peace at last, and I appreciated that, though again, I thought the show handled it a little bit better, made it a bit more clearer that Patrick was at last (heh) in a good place.
Overall, glad I got out of my comfort zone and read this series.
This is the one with his mother's funeral in it. There's a lot in here about the dying off of Patrick's demons, made literal in the slow, ugly death of his mother, and the surprising quick one of the last of his father's friends, Nick, a character who's been around since the first book, being a giant prick. It's probably the most comical of the books, with Patrick being in a relatively healthy place emotionally for the first time. The scene where Nicholas keels over at the wake is funny in a terrible way.
Not surprisingly, though, Patrick's problems don't just disappear when his mother dies. He still has to deal with them.
The book ends on a hopeful note, with Patrick seemingly on track to reunite with his family and achieve some form of peace at last, and I appreciated that, though again, I thought the show handled it a little bit better, made it a bit more clearer that Patrick was at last (heh) in a good place.
Overall, glad I got out of my comfort zone and read this series.
My least favorite of the Patrick Melrose novels, through there were some brilliant moments.
I wasn’t quite sure how this could end satisfyingly, but I actually thought this came together rather perfectly, ending on its own terms. I always like contradictory characters best, and as we see in plain terms here, all of the characters we met were. Patrick’s feelings regarding them more so, which is to be expected at funerals. Dredging up the past presents the possibility of symmetry for the story too, allowing for catharsis, or the denial of it.
Perhaps surprisingly, I found this to be the most laugh-out-loud instalment as well. I’ve always found the biting humour in the previous ones as something that would make me smile, but I found myself chuckling at the grocery store, listening to the excellent audiobook of this (the narrator sounds so much stylistically like the one of Pushing Daisies I couldn’t help but feel some cross connection).
Perhaps surprisingly, I found this to be the most laugh-out-loud instalment as well. I’ve always found the biting humour in the previous ones as something that would make me smile, but I found myself chuckling at the grocery store, listening to the excellent audiobook of this (the narrator sounds so much stylistically like the one of Pushing Daisies I couldn’t help but feel some cross connection).
Really dabbled between giving 4 and 5 stars here, so let's just call it 4.5.
A beautiful ending to a series that got off to a shaky start, but eventually rose to its reputation as an incredible feat of literature.
At Last is Aubyn at his finest and a well executed conclusion to the series as a whole. Packed full of incredible passages of prose, Aubyn polishes off all the main characters of the series to a neat finish.
Even Patrick, one of literature's most hopeless and defeated characters, finds some peace at last.
--- Ranking the Patrick Melrose books ---
5. Some Hope
4. Bad News
3. Never Mind
2. At Last
1. Mothers Milk
A beautiful ending to a series that got off to a shaky start, but eventually rose to its reputation as an incredible feat of literature.
At Last is Aubyn at his finest and a well executed conclusion to the series as a whole. Packed full of incredible passages of prose, Aubyn polishes off all the main characters of the series to a neat finish.
Even Patrick, one of literature's most hopeless and defeated characters, finds some peace at last.
--- Ranking the Patrick Melrose books ---
5. Some Hope
4. Bad News
3. Never Mind
2. At Last
1. Mothers Milk
A compelling exploration of trauma, death and healing. Though centred around a day in Patrick Melrose's life - his mother's funeral - it flows from events to thoughts, present to flashback, character to character with St. Aubyn's characteristic skill.
Mr. Melrose is now parent-less, and this book examines what that means and where he stands in coming to terms with his less than award winning parents. At the funeral some characters from past books show up, but the star is a mentally unstable woman. I was laughing like crazy. Life is an amazing thing, and these books have done a good job of looking at the myriad of things that can go wrong, the resilience humans are capable of, and there is always an element of humor (albeit dark sometimes) in any situation. Really enjoyable.
Reflecting on the full set of novels, I was most taken with the 2nd and 4th, as the singular focus on Patrick's perspective in the former and the deeper dive into perspectives of familiar and new characters in the latter engaged me more than the multiple perspectives in Books 1, 3 and 5 (particularly with characters that don't play a large role in subsequent/earlier books). The first three books really need to be read as one, as they were originally published, as there's a sonata like structure to the story of Patrick's relationship with his father and its effects across his early adulthood. The latter two books' focus on Patrick's mother provides a satisfying symmetry to the whole cycle. The often acerbic commentary on social manners and mores reminded me of the several social scenes in Proust (who is called out in the first book).
The funny side of everything: and the finale of the quintet, in which Patrick Melrose seems to find a compromise that will allow him a little of what he craves: a quiet life not lacking in drama. Set before, during and after the funeral of his ghastly mother, attended by various pop-eyed plutocrats, demented acquaintances and some of the charity cases that interested Eleanor rather more than her own son, insincerity battles with memory for supremacy and neither wins an unequivocal victory.
dark
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes