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A review by bianca89279
Lean Fall Stand by Jon McGregor
3.0
Another novel that didn't quite do it for me. This feels like the longest dry spell, as far as 5-star reads are concerned.
I picked this on a whim when I noticed it on the new releases shelf at the library. I've been meaning to read Reservoir 13 for a while so I thought why not try McGregor's newest.
It started off well. Was it going to be an adventure/mystery kind of book? I was up for it.
The novel begins with the point of view of a young Antarctica scientist who finds himself in a sudden storm and loses track of his two other partners. The adrenaline was high, what will happen. The POV quickly shifts to the other two people in the group and what happened to them, to a certain extent. One of them was the older, very experienced technical assistant, Doc, who's been coming to the Station and Antarctica for decades. The three people find themselves in trouble. That's part 1 - Lean.
Fast forward to part two - Fall - Doc has had a stroke, which left him incapacitated and without speech. His wife in the UK is asked to come to the hospital in Santiago, Chile. Now we suddenly hear Anna's point of view and we get a better idea about her and her life with Robert, aka Doc, and their two now grown-up children. I appreciated this part regarding how a carer's life is upturned and the mixed feelings that such a huge life event has for both the affected person and those who care for them.
Stand, the last part - is about Robert's recovery journey. Another character is introduced, the therapist running a group for people with speech issues. McGregor briefly moves to her pov but not for long enough or to make it worthwhile getting to know her. There were a few barely sketched characters. Speaking of characters, even Robert and Anna's adult children, Frank and Sara, made appearances here and there, but there wasn't much substance to them.
That last part was boring and quite messy writing-wise.
While on a logical level I appreciated and I think I understood what McGregor was going for, I was always kept at a distance by the omniscient narration. There are a few characters that come in and out but they're not very well developed, not to mention that novel starts with a character's POV, barely developed who then is completely dropped.
To conclude this rambling review, I thought Lean Fall Stand was a hodgepodge of a novel. I don't know what it was about, who it was about. Well, I sort of know. It seemed to me that McGregor had these two ideas in his head and strenuously attempted to connect them into a novel.
I still hope to read Reservoir 13.
I picked this on a whim when I noticed it on the new releases shelf at the library. I've been meaning to read Reservoir 13 for a while so I thought why not try McGregor's newest.
It started off well. Was it going to be an adventure/mystery kind of book? I was up for it.
The novel begins with the point of view of a young Antarctica scientist who finds himself in a sudden storm and loses track of his two other partners. The adrenaline was high, what will happen. The POV quickly shifts to the other two people in the group and what happened to them, to a certain extent. One of them was the older, very experienced technical assistant, Doc, who's been coming to the Station and Antarctica for decades. The three people find themselves in trouble. That's part 1 - Lean.
Fast forward to part two - Fall - Doc has had a stroke, which left him incapacitated and without speech. His wife in the UK is asked to come to the hospital in Santiago, Chile. Now we suddenly hear Anna's point of view and we get a better idea about her and her life with Robert, aka Doc, and their two now grown-up children. I appreciated this part regarding how a carer's life is upturned and the mixed feelings that such a huge life event has for both the affected person and those who care for them.
Stand, the last part - is about Robert's recovery journey. Another character is introduced, the therapist running a group for people with speech issues. McGregor briefly moves to her pov but not for long enough or to make it worthwhile getting to know her. There were a few barely sketched characters. Speaking of characters, even Robert and Anna's adult children, Frank and Sara, made appearances here and there, but there wasn't much substance to them.
That last part was boring and quite messy writing-wise.
While on a logical level I appreciated and I think I understood what McGregor was going for, I was always kept at a distance by the omniscient narration. There are a few characters that come in and out but they're not very well developed, not to mention that novel starts with a character's POV, barely developed who then is completely dropped.
To conclude this rambling review, I thought Lean Fall Stand was a hodgepodge of a novel. I don't know what it was about, who it was about. Well, I sort of know. It seemed to me that McGregor had these two ideas in his head and strenuously attempted to connect them into a novel.
I still hope to read Reservoir 13.