Tag Archives: novel

Book Review: Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson

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Watson_BeforeIgotoSleep6

Guest Reviewer: Holly Duane. Thanks Holly!

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson, Text Publishing, ISBN 9781921758157, RRP $40, Available now.

This is the first novel of a man who was a medical professional when he wrote it. It is a story about Christine, a woman who wakes up not remembering that twenty years have passed. She awakes in a strange house with a strange man who tells her he is her husband, and then the novel takes the form of her journal that she is reading back entries from the last few weeks where the mysteries of who she is and what has happened to her unfold. Every night when she goes to bed she writes in her journal because every morning when she wakes up she has forgotten the previous day, and she faces the task of putting together the pieces of the puzzle.

Although the topic of memory loss has already been well explored in popular culture, this book is a very interesting insight into what it would be like to live with memory loss, and also a captivating enough mystery, with some nice twists. It is also well researched; it is obvious that the writer has an in-depth knowledge of the condition.

It proposes a frightening concept of what would happen if you lost the last twenty years of your life every time you went to sleep? When I think about this too hard I feel exhausted and claustrophobic because she is stuck in that reality with no possibility of escape, and it will only get worse the older she gets and wakes up to find herself an old woman. It shows quite well the difficulties that this poses for her husband as well and the pain he is in; the woman he has loved for twenty years never recognises him, and she constantly turns down his advances. It is easy to feel very sorry for them both.

I would call this is more of a drama than a thriller because it is not so gripping that you can’t put it down, but I like the way the story draws you into her dilemma by not telling you anything she doesn’t know, and creating the feeling of not knowing what to believe or who to trust, which is precisely the way you would feel in her situation. As she reads through the journal you wonder how we can know that she even wrote it. Can she trust what people tell her about herself? And can we trust what she is writing from her mind because it is clearly damaged?

As well as dealing with the mysteries, Christine also has to deal with the everyday tasks, and then there are the interesting complications of catching up with technology. I was expecting it to have the Groundhog Day effect of repetition because she wakes every day in confusion and has similar thoughts and reactions to her condition, but the author found a way of minimalizing this. The story is pleasantly understated and unassuming; there is a beautiful quietness about it; almost mundane, but not boring.

I enjoyed the beginning where Christine wakes up and sees a strange man sleeping next to her, and then she sees he is wearing a wedding ring, and she thinks she has slept with someone else’s husband. It made me laugh because it is exactly the way you would feel in that situation.

I also like how there is not just one mystery with a whole lot of clues, but it’s more like her whole life is a mystery and we find out things all along the way.
The novel does have a few flaws though, like where are her family? And why doesn’t she wonder this? It tells us that her parents are dead, but does not reveal whether or not she has siblings. It mentions a cousin that had visited her at some point, but does not raise the question as to where the cousin is now. Also, some of what she writes in her diary has more imagery than I would consider a person in her condition with such eager thoughts to write down would bother with, but it does make for better writing.

At the end she makes a stupid mistake that is a bit hard to believe – she hangs around when she knows she is in danger and has a perfect opportunity to escape.

And the location of this scene (which is a crucial point) is very obvious, but Christine doesn’t seem to figure it out for a while. This obviousness left me feeling a little insulted and disappointed.

But I would say the good far outweigh the bad points. The writing is nicely simple and S.J. Watson has a talent for insight into the mind of a woman. A very small handful of characters give the novel a depth that many works don’t get to. I could definitely see this book becoming a movie, which it is set to.

Holly Duane is a 26 year old New Zealand woman who lives in Auckland with her husband Ewan. She has a degree in Philosophy from Waikato University and is currently a housewife and writer.

Book Review: The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan

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The Last Werewolf

The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan, Text Publishing, RRP $40, ISBN 9781921656927, Available now.

I’m not going to lie to you, this is such a good read, I’m considering swearing. As in, ZOMG this is the FO’SHIZZLE! (No one says that anymore, right? I’m so behind.)

But ZOMG YOU GUYS!! First I was like “Yeah, werewolves, we’re all doing the mythical creatures with your vamps and your weres and your fairies and your elves” and then I was all like “Huh, Nick Cave has endorsed it. Hmm.” and then I was all like read read read and then… ZOMG YOU GUYS, SO GOOD!

Ahem.

What I’m trying to say is The Last Werewolf is the smartest, funniest, most alive thing you’ll read all year. It’s so well written, so well plotted and so well played. Self aware literature without the self-consciousness – this is almost the impossible dream and Mr Duncan, sir, I must applaud you.

Story? Jake Marlowe, two hundred year old werewolf, and the last. The werewolves have been hunted down. Jake is weary and tormented and welcoming of his own seemingly inevitable death. Somewhere along the way, though, the vampires have gotten involved, and when Jake makes an unexpected discovery he begins to wonder why…

(How’d I do?) I’m not going to go further into the plot than that because the story is an enormous part of what makes The Last Werewolf such an immensely enjoyable and visceral read. There’s twists, there’s turns and there’s some rather brutal moments that grab the reader.

It’s also full of humour, all of it very dark (the best kind really).

I might have bombed a couple of their labs back in the day, but couldn’t believe this was a belated revenge attack. Vampires don’t go in for that sort of thing. Not on any kind of principle but because nine out of ten times they just can’t be bothered. All motivation derives from the primary fact of mortality. Take mortality away and motivation loses its … motivation. Thus vampires spend a lot of time lounging around and staring out of the window and finding they can’t be arsed.

If you’re going to read one mythical creature book this year, make it this one.

Book Review: Serena by Ron Rash

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SerenaSerena by Ron Rash, Text Publishing, ISBN 9781921656828, RRP $30, Available now.

Serena is a malevolently evocative novel about place and history.

Appalachian Gothic it is – this isn’t a genre you’re likely to have read a lot of (I certainly hadn’t) but based on Serena you’ll probably go hunting out more, if you can (I certainly will).

It’s 1929 and the newlywed George and Serena Pemberton arrive in the North Carolina mountains, where men are men and women are mostly pregnant. Their intention is to build a timber empire, in spite of the political rumblings about creating a National Park out of their land (which did eventually happen – the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was officially established in 1934, and is now a Unesco World Heritage Site).

But George Pemberton had a bit of a dalliance before marrying – the result of which is a baby boy. And Serena isn’t exactly thrilled about this.

Okay, so my plot recounting skills are fairly pants, but the important thing is this is a well-written book (apart from the sex – please, Mr Rash, can we have no more “cleaving” and “coupling”? kthnx).

It’s creepy and shocking and the story is captivating – actually, extremely captivating which is a plus because there are some moments of major suspension of disbelief required. There is definitely a touch of “sound and fury, signifying nothing”, which is highly appropriate as this is rather a Macbeth-ian tale – minus the eventual remorse of Lady Macbeth/Serena.

We’re thrown into the timber camp environment and the harsh realities of mountain life right from the get-go. Rash spares no sentiment in describing the constant dangers for the poor workers in their environment, and he throws in a bit of Depression-era commentary regarding the helplessness of a large percentage of the population vs the incredible wealth a tiny minority were enjoying.

I’ve seen Rash’s writing compared to Cormac McCarthy and John Steinbeck but such comparisons don’t seem entirely right – sure he deals with similar settings, similar historical times and a similar struggle between people and their environment, which by turns is beautiful and fatal, but Rash struggles to engage emotions quite as masterfully as McCarthy and Steinbeck.

The major downfall is in the characters. Whilst spooky and pitiable they also mostly remain one-dimensional. Serena’s back story is hinted at but the reader is left with almost no clue as to her motivations. And this is a woman whose actions require decent motivation otherwise they risk looking strangely detached – as if they’ve materialised out of thin air, which is where Rash trips up.

The reality is, though, it’s not until you’ve finished reading that you’ll care. Up until that point you’ll be happily carried away with the engaging prose and a plot that barrels along like a runaway tree down a mountain side.