This book starts on the premise that it is based on the recordings of a man seeking counselling following his wife having been caught up in a terrorist event. As such it has no chapters or even page numbers which at first I found novel and then as a I progressed through the book I found it less and less novel and more and more frustrating. It is perhaps a personal failing that I like to pace my reading through the natural breaks provided by chapters or even through reading a certain number of pages a day – this was not possible with this book and if I am honest I came close to abandoning it in frustration.
I did however persevere and I am glad that I did. Putting aside its unconventional layout it is a strength in the sense that you are never quite sure if the events portrayed are real or the imaginings of an increasingly deranged individual. It also a story about loneliness and grief and what it means to have a family that has come second to a career. It is also about what happens when you lose the career in which your entire reason for being on this earth is encapsulated, and the consequences that can arise – a focus on increasingly poor mental health being one.
I did however persevere and I am glad that I did. Putting aside its unconventional layout it is a strength in the sense that you are never quite sure if the events portrayed are real or the imaginings of an increasingly deranged individual. It also a story about loneliness and grief and what it means to have a family that has come second to a career. It is also about what happens when you lose the career in which your entire reason for being on this earth is encapsulated, and the consequences that can arise – a focus on increasingly poor mental health being one.