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A review by foxo_cube
Isaac and the Egg by Bobby Palmer
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I have started recommending this book to basically anyone who will listen. It was great, and to think I impulse-bought it without really expecting much in particular!
It does one of my favourite things that a story can do, which is to wrap sad, serious issues in absurdism in just the right way to emphasise the message. Isaac, our protagonist, is going through some terrible mental health issues after becoming a widower at a young age. I felt that the depiction of the depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, etc. was sympathetic and pretty accurate to my experience, at the very least. In general, I think he responds to the situations he finds himself in pretty much how you'd expect, really. I loved when he found the egg in the forest and is panicking while driving home because, aside from the fact he'd been drinking, which was bad enough, what if he's arrested for... having a large unidentified egg in his car? what if the egg is secretly full of drugs or something? Isaac would definitely be the sort of guy to hate taking toilet paper home from the supermarket because he's sure everyone is looking at him and going "Ha, look at that idiot, I bet he shits".
I think the pace at which we learn about the egg and see the development of its relationship with Isaac is brilliant. They are mysteries to each other (and, although the egg <i>seems</i> like far more of a mystery to us as the reader than Isaac does, that's not as true as it appears), and seeing them try to work each other out - both when they succeed and when they don't - is wonderful. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes sad, sometimes sweet. Along with that, we get a bit more insight into Isaac's relationship with his wife and where he was in life before her death kind of threw him into stasis. I really want to go into significantly more detail here but the way that all of these things are hinted at and foreshadowed, and how it all comes together, is almost certainly far better to experience when you have as little idea where the story is going as possible.
Basically, read this book. I cannot stress this enough.
It does one of my favourite things that a story can do, which is to wrap sad, serious issues in absurdism in just the right way to emphasise the message. Isaac, our protagonist, is going through some terrible mental health issues after becoming a widower at a young age. I felt that the depiction of the depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, etc. was sympathetic and pretty accurate to my experience, at the very least. In general, I think he responds to the situations he finds himself in pretty much how you'd expect, really. I loved when he found the egg in the forest and is panicking while driving home because, aside from the fact he'd been drinking, which was bad enough, what if he's arrested for... having a large unidentified egg in his car? what if the egg is secretly full of drugs or something? Isaac would definitely be the sort of guy to hate taking toilet paper home from the supermarket because he's sure everyone is looking at him and going "Ha, look at that idiot, I bet he shits".
I think the pace at which we learn about the egg and see the development of its relationship with Isaac is brilliant. They are mysteries to each other (and, although the egg <i>seems</i> like far more of a mystery to us as the reader than Isaac does, that's not as true as it appears), and seeing them try to work each other out - both when they succeed and when they don't - is wonderful. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes sad, sometimes sweet. Along with that, we get a bit more insight into Isaac's relationship with his wife and where he was in life before her death kind of threw him into stasis. I really want to go into significantly more detail here but the way that all of these things are hinted at and foreshadowed, and how it all comes together, is almost certainly far better to experience when you have as little idea where the story is going as possible.
Basically, read this book. I cannot stress this enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis