Angels of the Universe
YA.  Set in the '60s, this is the story of a young man struggling with mental illness. Paul exposes the darkness and even the flashes of light associated with his descent into schizophrenia while describing his maturation from a young child through adolescence and young manhood in Reykjavik, Iceland. He was an intelligent boy, consequently placed "above his station" in a state school system, but thoroughly at home with his friends on the street. His destructive behavior develops gradually, but inexorably, and even the best intentions of a loving family cannot save him. He is institutionalized several times and released as often. His therapy includes the use of drugs and their benefit is, at best, inconclusive. His stays at the state psychiatric hospital are punctuated with various attempts at a "normal life." In Klepp, he meets such interesting figures as Oli Beatle, who believes he wrote music for the Beatles; while he is "out," he stays with a farmer who fires at a ship from the shore because it might be a Russian warship. Readers will be drawn into the progression of the disease and feel much sympathy for Paul and understanding of his illness by the end. This slim volume is not an easy read, but it is an evocation of the place, the time, and especially the disease, and is well worth consideration.?Susan H. Woodcock, Kings Park Library, Burke, VACopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.