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_anamarija_ 's review for:
Stuart: A Life Backwards
by Alexander Masters
It's hard for me to write a review for this book. I saw the film first and it immediately stuck with me. The tone of the film, the casting and the acting, its bittersweet aspect. I knew that I had to read the book and I had the feeling that I would love it no matter what.
When I finally came round to reading it, I didn't regret it for one moment.
Masters did well to listen to Stuart's advice on how to structure his story. The whodunnit approach works perfectly when it comes to narrating someone's life story. After all, it is in that way that we come to know a person: we first meet them as they are, with all their good and bad sides and only step by step do we manage to remove the layers and unravel what's hidden deep within. And in Stuart's case, there's a lot beneath the tortured and tattoo-covered body.
It's a deeply moving story about the degradation of a human being. A soul which has been so damaged (still, not destroyed) that it needs to defend itself from the demons that have moved into Stuart's head. A soul which isn't killed, it still feels (and maybe that's the curse, too much is still felt and remembered even the memories have now become only fragments devoided of an actual anchor in time)
Finally, I absolutely loved the tone of the book which is pretty much lively - despite the fact that Stuart's life isn't a light story, Maters has an interesting approach. He does feel compassionate about Stuart, however, he doesn't pity him. He treats him as a human being, very well aware of his difficult past, but that doesn't prevent him from being irritated by Stuart's comment and behaviour. He treats him as a human being whose voice deserves to be heard since it has got a lot to say. The two of them slowly build a true friendship and it is in the dialogues they exchange where I found myself laugh out loud several times.
It is definitely a book that, in my opinion, everyone should read. A book about a life that teaches us that one should never judge a book by its covers, no matter how banal or cliched it may sound.
When I finally came round to reading it, I didn't regret it for one moment.
Masters did well to listen to Stuart's advice on how to structure his story. The whodunnit approach works perfectly when it comes to narrating someone's life story. After all, it is in that way that we come to know a person: we first meet them as they are, with all their good and bad sides and only step by step do we manage to remove the layers and unravel what's hidden deep within. And in Stuart's case, there's a lot beneath the tortured and tattoo-covered body.
It's a deeply moving story about the degradation of a human being. A soul which has been so damaged (still, not destroyed) that it needs to defend itself from the demons that have moved into Stuart's head. A soul which isn't killed, it still feels (and maybe that's the curse, too much is still felt and remembered even the memories have now become only fragments devoided of an actual anchor in time)
Finally, I absolutely loved the tone of the book which is pretty much lively - despite the fact that Stuart's life isn't a light story, Maters has an interesting approach. He does feel compassionate about Stuart, however, he doesn't pity him. He treats him as a human being, very well aware of his difficult past, but that doesn't prevent him from being irritated by Stuart's comment and behaviour. He treats him as a human being whose voice deserves to be heard since it has got a lot to say. The two of them slowly build a true friendship and it is in the dialogues they exchange where I found myself laugh out loud several times.
It is definitely a book that, in my opinion, everyone should read. A book about a life that teaches us that one should never judge a book by its covers, no matter how banal or cliched it may sound.