A review by ecari
The Cradle by Patrick Somerville

4.0

This book was quite short, for all that was packed into it. I frequently found myself thinking of it as a fable. The two main characters are very clearly drawn, but in pencil - no extra colors or shapes or irritating background scenes, just their "beings," if that makes any sense at all. Their histories are told in short bursts that focus only on the critical memories that have shaped who they are. As someone who frequently wonders why I don't remember more than I do and why I remember the random events, feelings, situations that have lodged in my brain, I appreciated the economy and effectiveness of Somerville's method of investing me as reader in his characters. He also gets very far inside the heads of these two (a man and a woman). I was a bit disappointed in the shift to another character's perspective at the end of the book - I found it unnecessary, and I wanted to be back with the woman - to know what she felt at this crucial juncture. I'm not sure why he deprived me of that, although I did feel pretty sure I *knew* what she felt because of all I had learned of her so far. Perhaps this just demonstrates the investment I felt.

I did find the plot(s) a bit bizarre, but it didn't seem so much the point as learning about what makes these two people tick, particularly the man. As no doubt clear from my comments so far, there are two disconnected storylines in this novel, which do eventually come together in conclusion. I did find the disconnection a bit difficult to follow, and the time periods were also different, which I actually didn't realize until the end. This was possibly because I was being a lazy reader, but it definitely added to the slightly jarring effect, which switching back and forth between the two stories had on me in the beginning. Despite this, I felt hooked into both stories and wanted the updates to each as they came.

In sum, this book is a wonderful weekend-on-the-couch read and I'll look for Somerville's next.