This month, we read the debut novel of S.J. Watson, a British author. Before I Go to Sleep was published in theU.S. last year and in theUK earlier this year and has been a smash on both sides of the pond. Nicole Kidman has been signed to star in the movie.
This book is one of the most compelling books I’ve read in awhile. It is right up there with The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon as a fictional look at how the brain works, from the brain owner’s point of view.
One thing that writers are encouraged to do is give the reader a narrator they can trust. In this book, the narrator is an amnesiac, so how can we trust her? Because we know that her untrustworthiness is trustworthy, if that makes sense. We know that we have to take everything she says with a grain of salt because on any given day, she only knows what she knows because others have told her what she knows, the others to include herself as written in her journal.
It’s a very interesting concept.
Neither Sylvia or David were that impressed with the book and David questioned whether someone really could experience amnesia like that demonstrated in the book. Various true life cases were discussed and then a lively discussion about the nature of memory ensued and whether what we think is our first memory really is a memory or a story told to us.
As Mark Twain once said “When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not.”
Les declared that this was the best book we’ve read this year, while Pam was known to be late to work because she got wrapped up reading it while eating breakfast. Joan thought it was such an exciting story, she gave up lunches out so she could stay in with her ham and cheese and read. But she didn’t want to read it at night — it was too exciting for restful sleep.
The Picks:
Librarian Stephanie suggested books by Henning Mankell and Pam is still on her Scandinavian kick and is reading Kjell Eriksson.