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tfitoby 's review for:
Mysterious Skin
by Scott Heim
I reckon I've had this book for the best part of ten years, just sitting there unread waiting for the day when I felt like reading the original novel of a powerful and truly memorable film, perhaps even the finest work by one of my favourite directors. I nearly gave it away several times, sure that it was just taking up unnecessary space in my overburdened shelves, I mean, what more could it offer me that the movie hadn't already given in spades?
And now? I'm relieved that it is over, there's a chapter describing the grooming of a young boy by a middle aged man told from the perspective of the young boy who apparently knew he was gay and desperately wanted what was happening. That was one of the more creepy and disturbing reading moments of my life that's for certain, but it's done so well, the alternating first person narratives providing not just different perspectives as a release but also serving to make the personal revelations that the two major characters experience all the more powerful.
There's a whole bunch of the mundane and everday about the lives of the narrators that ordinarily I would love but as I already knew the major plot beats from the film (which it turns out was a pared down and to the point adaptation that still manages to keep the same atmosphere and emotional arc of the source material) I found myself often getting impatient over rather than simply enjoying the journey Heim was taking me on. But come the end I was still sufficiently gripped and moved by the emotional content that I felt compelled to order Heim's two other novels to continue experiencing such skilled writing that resonates with me so fully.
Quite remarkable, and I'm fully delighted that I eventually took the plunge to engage with this story as it was conceived by a talented young writer.
And now? I'm relieved that it is over, there's a chapter describing the grooming of a young boy by a middle aged man told from the perspective of the young boy who apparently knew he was gay and desperately wanted what was happening. That was one of the more creepy and disturbing reading moments of my life that's for certain, but it's done so well, the alternating first person narratives providing not just different perspectives as a release but also serving to make the personal revelations that the two major characters experience all the more powerful.
There's a whole bunch of the mundane and everday about the lives of the narrators that ordinarily I would love but as I already knew the major plot beats from the film (which it turns out was a pared down and to the point adaptation that still manages to keep the same atmosphere and emotional arc of the source material) I found myself often getting impatient over rather than simply enjoying the journey Heim was taking me on. But come the end I was still sufficiently gripped and moved by the emotional content that I felt compelled to order Heim's two other novels to continue experiencing such skilled writing that resonates with me so fully.
Quite remarkable, and I'm fully delighted that I eventually took the plunge to engage with this story as it was conceived by a talented young writer.