A few more words
He was caught in an awkward situation. While she stayed, he could hide his feelings; but her proximity only made them more intense…
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Review: Stranger than Fiction by Jim Murdoch
7 out of 10
Just as with my readings and review of Jim’s first novel, Living with the Truth, it’s taken me ages to get round to re-reading this one and writing the review. Sorry Jim… One of my excuses is that it’s not the type of book you read twice in a hurry (actually, the number of books that I do read twice in a hurry has diminished greatly in recent years).
Anyway, no more apologies, no more regrets. On to a synopsis of sorts, and my review.
Jonathan Payne, the vaguely unpleasant but remarkably sympathetic protagonist of Living with the Truth, is dead. This might not sound like the most obvious way to start a novel – especially when Jonathan is its central character – but stick with it. He starts his first day in the afterlife in pretty much the same mundane way as he started his days in life… at least until he finds a note from Truth, informing him of his new circumstances. After a life of relative dullness – apart from those couple of days he spent with Truth – Jonathan’s death is actually rather interesting.
I’nm trying to avoid spoilers, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that the universe itself has died, and Jonathan has been ‘woken up’ several billion years after he lived, before the universe is restarted so the whole cycle can begin again. The Dunameon (Truth, Destiny, Fate, and all the rest) have been given the task of interviewing everyone who ever lived, to try and figure out what improvements can be made this time around, and although Jonathan is lucky(?) enough to have Truth as his guide through the afterlife, he also gets to meet some of the members of the Dunameon (the 60s-stuck Fate is my favourite).
Jonathan also gets to meet some very significant figures from his own life. Most, but not all, are extrapolations of his own memories, and it’s quite informative about Jonathan’s own character to see what he considers important about them.
I really don’t feel I can go into more detail about the story without ruining some of its little surprises. So I’ll wrap this up by saying that there’s a lot of charm in this novel and its not-so-charming protagonist; there’s gentle humour, and a solid understanding of character and humanity. It fits perfectly as a companion piece to Living with the Truth – actually, the two books felt to me like halves of a single work – and it’s a great shame that these novels seem hard to categorise, because I worry that people just won’t find them.
So in conclusion: if you’ve read Living with the Truth, then you should read Stranger than Fiction… but if you haven’t, then you should read them both. Soon.
Friday Flash 55 – an anti-Valentine’s tale
He wanted everything: marriage, babies, death do us part. She didn’t, and left him.
Five years later, an accidental meeting. She was single by choice; he had never got over her. A friendly coffee turned into dinner, wine and back to his.
Three days later, he bought new flagstones for his garden.
Back briefly
No real excuses for the quiet of the past couple of weeks. I’ve disappointed myself by not keeping up the blogging routine I’d started to get into, but I’ve been felled by the mid-January blues which usually follow the early-January enthusiasm.
Anyway, Microfiction Monday is always a good excuse to post something! And I had to work a bit on this one to get it down under 140 characters, which was a good exercise.
Being a doll stuck in one position wasn’t fun. After five years gazing up a cheerleader’s skirt, it was no wonder Betty’s eyes were so big.
More Microfiction Monday
After the divorce, she spent all of his money on shoes and beauty treatments – no more dish-water-hands, dowdy, down-at-heel life for her!
Sunday Scribblings: A New Leaf
This one is a quick scrawl in response to this week’s Sunday Scribblings prompt.
A New Leaf
I am the blank page.
I tempt you and I challenge you
and I terrify you.
Pick up your pen and write on me.
I dare you.
Write me a poem, write me a story,
Write me your day’s deeds and your to-do list,
Write me your dreams.
And make me something new.
© 2010 C Sharp
