This review appeared on Visual Bookshelf yesterday, it made me happy as the reviewer is most erudite and well-read:
An excellent read. For me, even though the main theme is one character's illness, this is a novel with much more to say about life. In observing the details of day-to-day existence, the wit is sharp and the insight acute. The narrative hops deftly between styles and keeps its pace and focus right to the end. In particular, the passages on loneliness and loss are movingly portrayed. The praise in the reviews is thoroughly deserved.
And I got a lovely letter today from the daughter of my old French teacher - I had sent her a copy of TSoM a couple of weeks ago after receiving a card from her to say he had passed away. He was in his late eighties, I guess, a lovely man, and we had been exchanging Christmas cards for the last eight or nine years, he'd got in touch after seeing a letter of mine in the press in reply to a GP who was slagging off people with ME. I think he would have liked the novel and in fact there is a reference to an incident which actually happened, concerning the main character mispronouncing 'une guêpe' (means wasp). That was me in fourth year and I said 'gweep' and my teacher was almost crying with laughter. Little did I know that almost thirty years later I would be sending a copy of my book to his daughter (whom I do not know), with 'gweep' in a chapter.
Happy New Year, everyone, when it comes.
An excellent read. For me, even though the main theme is one character's illness, this is a novel with much more to say about life. In observing the details of day-to-day existence, the wit is sharp and the insight acute. The narrative hops deftly between styles and keeps its pace and focus right to the end. In particular, the passages on loneliness and loss are movingly portrayed. The praise in the reviews is thoroughly deserved.
And I got a lovely letter today from the daughter of my old French teacher - I had sent her a copy of TSoM a couple of weeks ago after receiving a card from her to say he had passed away. He was in his late eighties, I guess, a lovely man, and we had been exchanging Christmas cards for the last eight or nine years, he'd got in touch after seeing a letter of mine in the press in reply to a GP who was slagging off people with ME. I think he would have liked the novel and in fact there is a reference to an incident which actually happened, concerning the main character mispronouncing 'une guêpe' (means wasp). That was me in fourth year and I said 'gweep' and my teacher was almost crying with laughter. Little did I know that almost thirty years later I would be sending a copy of my book to his daughter (whom I do not know), with 'gweep' in a chapter.
Happy New Year, everyone, when it comes.
