Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by dandyliion
Spill Simmer Falter Wither by Sara Baume
4.0
In a way, this book reminded me of The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. You might be thinking that I'm a little bit crazy, and perhaps I am, but hear me out:
This book is the disintegration of a man's life. We start in a place where the primary character, whose name the reader does not know, is feeling well-enough self-assured. He is completing the mundane tasks of living routinely, without much complaint. His biggest fear is rats making their way from the attic into his home, so what does he do? He adopts a dog--a maggot-nosed, aggressive little bugger that he just loves. to. death.
The strange man, shunned by his community after his father's death (which is a mystery for the bulk of the book), walks with his dog morning and night. They explore the local beach, and the man and dog both delight--one, in sniffing and wriggling and digging and chewing; the other, in watching the one sniff and wriggle and dig and chew. At times, they are so close that they seem almost as one.
Where does it go wrong? The dog bites another dog walked by a small boy, and the mother makes an accusation that the dog bit not only the stranger-dog, but also the boy. The main character of spill simmer falter wither begins an immediate internal struggle: how could he believe that his dog had bitten the boy? But also, how could he not believe it? And how would they escape when everyone knew who he was, having watched the strange man living outside the burden of society, and animal control wanted to seize and euthanize his dog?
The main character goes to great lengths, uprooting his life and opting to live many months out of his car, driving the entire country's edge and back with his faithful but mildly concerning companion. The reader is involved in his disintegration; in fact, we can feel his life disintegrate. The entire book delineates and de-rationalizes until we are left confused alongside our main character and his dog.
The only other book I have read that draws the reader into the steady destruction of a soul, that so powerfully relates the disintegration of mental health, is The Catcher in the Rye.
Of course, the prose in this book is much more poetic, lyrical even. For such a beautifully crafted book, it comes across real and with the feeling that it is written stream-of-consciousness. We are in the head of the main character, everywhere he goes and everything he experiences, and it is truly remarkable.
Would recommend to everyone.
This book is the disintegration of a man's life. We start in a place where the primary character, whose name the reader does not know, is feeling well-enough self-assured. He is completing the mundane tasks of living routinely, without much complaint. His biggest fear is rats making their way from the attic into his home, so what does he do? He adopts a dog--a maggot-nosed, aggressive little bugger that he just loves. to. death.
The strange man, shunned by his community after his father's death (which is a mystery for the bulk of the book), walks with his dog morning and night. They explore the local beach, and the man and dog both delight--one, in sniffing and wriggling and digging and chewing; the other, in watching the one sniff and wriggle and dig and chew. At times, they are so close that they seem almost as one.
Where does it go wrong? The dog bites another dog walked by a small boy, and the mother makes an accusation that the dog bit not only the stranger-dog, but also the boy. The main character of spill simmer falter wither begins an immediate internal struggle: how could he believe that his dog had bitten the boy? But also, how could he not believe it? And how would they escape when everyone knew who he was, having watched the strange man living outside the burden of society, and animal control wanted to seize and euthanize his dog?
The main character goes to great lengths, uprooting his life and opting to live many months out of his car, driving the entire country's edge and back with his faithful but mildly concerning companion. The reader is involved in his disintegration; in fact, we can feel his life disintegrate. The entire book delineates and de-rationalizes until we are left confused alongside our main character and his dog.
The only other book I have read that draws the reader into the steady destruction of a soul, that so powerfully relates the disintegration of mental health, is The Catcher in the Rye.
Of course, the prose in this book is much more poetic, lyrical even. For such a beautifully crafted book, it comes across real and with the feeling that it is written stream-of-consciousness. We are in the head of the main character, everywhere he goes and everything he experiences, and it is truly remarkable.
Would recommend to everyone.