Review: A writer's view of the 'crazies' who walk amoung us.....
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 02 15, 2013
While I certainly enjoyed both the writer's style and imagination in the writing of this novel, I do have certain serious considerations regarding the subject matter from which he drew his inspiration. Yes, the writing was highly descriptive and beautiful, it enabled us to draw a close awareness of the protagonist during his various levels of consciousness and it was highly imaginative insomuch that he intermingled prose with poetry, delusional escapes from the drudgery of everyday life and free thoughts vs. strained dialogue. I would give him a full five stars for his writing but, having spent my career in the fields of mental health and addiction services I do have a problem with the fictionally described quasi biographical content. Hence the total of two stars.First, while the author may have a correct diagnoses of active psychosis, he failed to examine the other two maladies in the protagonist's life which would not only magnify the delusions, but are problems unto themselves. The first is the obvious obsessive-compulsive patterns that are exhibited through his legibly and neatly writing of his life story on the internal walls of his residence. This is not solely the actions of a person who wants the world to know of his view of life, but a man so obsessed with his actions that he feels it necessary to do so on something that he views as eternal and as something that will stand out so all will notice; the walls of his home. The other failure in dealing with the complete personality of Simon is that he did not actively deal with his obvious alcoholism. While mental health issues are obviously present in our protagonist these are nearly impossible to deal with until the alcohol dependence is overcome. There can be no internal emotional resolution that occurs as long as a person has the masking cloud of alcohol to blur his life into the foggy existence which he continues to exist in. Once this dependency is dealt with, then, and only then, can areas of sexual and physical abuse and childhood neglect be examined clearly.Secondly, The delusionary world of the character is more fictional than real. Having worked with a high number of actively psychotic patients all them failed to have the `fairy tale world' of delusions that were shown in this book. Psychosis is an extreme form of mental illness and, being so, the worlds that are self-created are of the extreme also. Seldom, if ever, are there playful children enacting an educational play for psychosis' victims. The delusions are harsh, cruel and mirror the real life experiences of the patient. Suicidal attempts come from the patient's inability to live in the real world, not from a symbolic interpretation of that world in the form of delusions as show here. Lastly, while a person who is having an active episode truly does see the world in a different form and manner from reality, it seldom occurs that they are able to successfully interact with persons as the character in this book does.Thirdly, `forgiveness' is one of the most misunderstood concepts that we hold as a society. Various religions and feel-good groups have preached to us over the years of the importance of forgiving everyone around us such that we can `successfully' go on with our own lives and not be bogged down with bitterness and resentment. Such is not the case. In order for true forgiveness to occur we first need the perpetrator to ask for forgiveness! Then, and only then, can the victim accept his request and forgiveness, itself, can take place. Any other scenario can lead to social and personal moral suicide. If the victim forgives the abuser without his knowledge this not only sets himself to be abused again but the perpetrator, because there was no act of contrition on his part, feels that what he did must have been morally acceptable because he was not called on it, so he is encouraged to do it again. The author has the main character giving forgiveness to his imaginary perpetrators in the morning and then granting forgiveness to his real life (but dead) abusive Uncle in the afternoon. Totally unrealistic! Forgiveness, even linked with acts of contrition, takes years, not hours!Lastly, the wife of someone of this level of mental derangement will not passively wait 20+ years secretly overseeing the `progress' of the patient all in the name of `love'. The divorce rate in cases as this is over 90%. This is more of a fairy tale than it is reality. Under normal circumstances if a spouse is left to rear a handicapped child that the partner abandoned, he/she will go on with their life in a totally different direction than this novel portrays. They have to do so if, for no other reason, than their own survival and personal progress. Two people who married in their early twenties and had the series of events happen as portrayed in this text, would be as far apart as the East is from the West at the age of fifty.The overall fairy tale nature of this novel's ending should alert us to the fact that it is not in any manner tied to psychological or physical reality. Active psychosis is not in the manner as described any more than the real world of countryside England is as the author describes. People who have lived apart for twenty two years simply do not run off into the sunset with their handicapped offspring and `live happily ever after'. Mental illness cannot simply be left behind as one would an old photo album or unwanted furniture. Mental health is a process, a process that is worked on minute by minute throughout a victim's life and not something that is met, conquered and overcome in a a complete lifetime let alone a two hundred+ page novel.In summary I found that the author's writing style and format to be excellent but the reality of the story line was extremely without merit..............