Of Mice and Maltesers - Maria2007's book

[artifarti]

A really good read. Pretty unputdownable. For some strange reason it reminded me of American Psycho - have you read that? Obviously totally different but also about narcissism and the corporate world etc. but that protagonist is the flip side to this one!

I'd be interested to know what you thought about a couple of things:

I spent a lot of time thinking 'Why is he like this? It can't just be guilt over his daughter? Is there something in his background?' So, I just felt that when they did reveal it, it was a bit cliched - the trip to the psychiatrist etc. and very sudden, especially the stuff about his sister. There was no drip-drip of information really - in storytelling terms it was all show and no tell! Well, that's how I felt. It was a bit rushed.

The ending. I think I would have preferred it without those last couple of pages. Not because I'm a heartless cow, honestly . It just felt, again, a bit cliched, a bit of a cop out. I guess it was supposed to be about redemption/second chances etc. but I think the book could have been better without it, although shocking.

But I'd be interested to know what you think!

Oops! Hi artifarti... just saw this now. I had actually started a thread with 'Maria2007's book' a while ago but I suppose it got lost in MN etherspace so lets stick with this one!

I think I need to reread the book in order to give you a good answer to your questions. Or at least to skim through it! I do remember a lot of it & I remember very clearly that I also thought the same about the ending (although we don't want to reveal too much to the others who haven't yet read the book). So I suppose about the second thing you say, yes, I agree. About the first, I need to reread to discuss further. (I will look through it once I'm back in london next week).

The reason I chose this book for our book swap club is that the author is really talented, I think, and pretty unknown in the UK. He's also written another excellent book which I recommend too. But the other reason I chose it is that it was sitting on my TV (!!)- not sure why, since I read it years ago... I looked at it, thought, aaahhh, D.L. is a good author, young, unknown, intriguing ideas, I'll go with that. So it wasn't really a 'thinking carefully & choosing' process, more a spur of the moment thing. If I had thought & chosen carefully, I think I know what I would have gone with! (But am keeping that as a surprise possibly for next year's swap club ).

Another thing: yes, I've read american psycho & of course- as I believe all of us- I remember it VERY clearly, probably too clearly for my own comfort!! Am really intrigued as to why it reminded you of that? The reason I'm asking is that I really hate that book- in a way, I think it had no reason to be written apart from the author's indulging himself (if you see what I mean)... so am wondering what associations you found between the 2 books.

But anyway, as I said, I'll skim through my book early next week & will be back for more chatting!

thanks maria got your book via arti and have started it already.

hoping to have a good read today whilst kids at school.

enjoying it so far and will report back when finished

well, here goes

i thought that this was a very original and brilliant story about his descent into depression and attempted suicide.

matthews need to give is obsessive and it made me smile how he is always trying to do 'the right thing'.

i loved matthews character [despite his problems] he is complex and fascinating.
arti was right earlier that the reasoning for him being like this was rushed and you half expected most of it anyway!

also liked all the other characters too - a good supporting cast for our man.

regarding the ending, i was waiting for the THUD however i liked him so much i didnt want him to die either.
felt that the author definitely took the easy option.

however a great choice maria - no need to worry am sure the others will love it too.
BTW cant believe this is his debut novel

Hi Aristocat, thanks for your comments

I've skimmed through the book again (to remind myself) & yes, I do think the author took the 'easy' way out. But somehow it felt ok for this particular book, don't know, I think it would have been disappointing if it had ended any other way.

D. L. has written one further novel- it's also excellent (maybe even better than this one). I think he's a very talented author... and he's quite young too (well, if you consider myself quite young , I think he's 36 or so!)

I have just come onto this thread to check out what other people thought of this book as I have been woring my way through it for the past couple of weeks and am not really making very much progress.

It is not tht I don't like it - I just haven't got hooked onto Matthew's character yet. I think it may be that I have been trying to read it whilst I was on holiday with extended family so didn't really get much extended reading time!

Glad to see that other people really enjoyed the book so I will persevere. Really, after a fortnight I am only on page 98 (there are 346) so I do have a way to go.)

I don't mind having read here that he doesn't die -although I was wondering in a curious sort of way how the author was going to write the SPLAT!

Will persevere...

How did you find it in the end Dysgu? Would be curious to know

Sorry it has taken me so long to post my thoughts here.

I am still not sure exactly how I felt about this book to be honest. I don't know if I ever really 'clicked' with Matthew athough I think maybe he did grow on me. A lot of the time I just wanted to tel him to 'get on with it'!

There was also a stage when I was finding the sketches written about the other people who lived in his building more interesting than the main story.

I have to admit that I cannot actually recall the ending of the book!

I'm getting this on my threads - I've skimmed through the earlier posts in case there are spoilers. I haven't got very far with the book yet - I've just gone back to a new job, full time after mat leave - so I'm falling into bed by 10 every night. It hasn't hooked me in yet, but I'll persevere!

Whinegums, hope you like the book I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, & I was unsure when I chose it, but I think in the end it makes for an interesting read (and not too tiring)...so hope you do enjoy it in the end! Don't worry if you don't, please feel free to say so, it's great to get different opinions on the books all of us have chosen.

I've given up on the book for this month - not because I hate it Maria, I just feel I've run out of time (again) and won't be able to catch up - loads going on for me at the moment. I'm not the sort of person who has to finish a book once I've started, and I have no strong feelings either way on this one. The character of Matthew doesn't resonate with me at all, and I don't care what happens to him.

I would finish it off at a later date if I got the opportunity and time.

I quite like the structure of the book, with the mini sketches of other people and their lives.

Hi Whinegums, sorry to hear to had no strong feelings about this book. But it's to be expected, first, that some of us are busy some of the months & so not all books will get read...and second that we won't all like/love each other's books. That's what makes the whole book swap interesting

Hi - well, I did think this was an interesting one! I thought it was well written, but made me feel very uncomfortable to read it - in that way, perhaps it has echoes of American Psycho too. What it reminded more of was The Woman who walked into Doors.

It doesn't help that I'm extremely squeamish so I found his blood giving fetish really difficult to read!

Overall, I found his behaviour really odd - and towards the end unbelievably so, and I'm not qualified to say whether this is a convincing portrayal a descent into depression. I felt a bit voyeuristic. I can see why Whinegums didn't care for the character - I did think he was the most awful eejit! But it was well written and I was drawn in by the way it was told - I thought the describing as he fell past was clever.

I note it was a first novel - I thought he was apt to underline what he meant a bit too much, so I did feel a bit talked down to at times and like saying "yes I get it, he had an isolated childhood, his parents were distant, he felt responsible for his sister, you don't need to keep saying it in words of one syllable!". It would be interesting to see how he develops in later novels (have there been any? I guess I could go google). I thought it was a bit overlong too. And there should have been a splat!

All in all I thought it was a really interesting choice. Thanks Maria

Thanks Stickylittlefingers for your comments. I think I agree with most of what you've said. I chose this novel without thinking my choice through much, more or less on the basis that I think this is an interesting author & most people aren't likely to have read his work. Yes, he has written another novel which I think is even better, I think it's called 'the monsters on Gramercy park' or something like that. I enjoyed that one too, again was an interesting read & I think better written than his 1st one.

I've just finished this book, Maria 2007, and although I'd never have picked it up in a bookshop, I really enjoyed it. I've been on a lot of long train journeys for work and my commute has increaed due to the weather, so I got the chance to read big chunks at a time.

I read quite quickly and I think I missed some of the nuances- for example, I had to re-read a chunk before I realised that I'd missed crucial information about him increasing his blood donating. I also thought that the "toys" that he kept in storage were more items of gym equipment, until the end. So I think if I'd read it slower, I'd have picked up more.

I thought Matthew was a really interesting character, and I have friends who are run ragged because they can't bear to say no, and Matthew was really like this to the nth degree. I think it's easy to see how someone who perhaps has a compulsive personality could get like that (the never taking holidays from work, the feeling of indispensibility (sp?) etc).

I initially found the style of writing annoying - the stories of the supporting characters mixed up in the main narrative, but I'm glad I persevered.

The ending? Yes, a bit of a cop out and unbelievable.

I really enjoyed this book, and I'm now going to google to see what else he has written. Thanks for choosing it, Maria2007.

I enjoyed this Maria - thank you. I found it hard to get into at first and stalled a few pages in, took me a couple of weeks to go back to it but then really got into it. I thought it was an interesting account of a person's complete demise and how easily that could go by un-noticed if you don't have a good support network around you.

I agree with MrsM about the writing style and the mixing of characters. I think that's what put me off at the start until I got used to it and thought 'oh, hang on, I get what's happening here'!

Funnily enough I was also disappointed about the ending which surprised me because I am usually a sucker for happy ending no matter how inplausible but in this case, I felt like it was just a little too convenient, a bit trite almost.

That said, I did think it was a good book and really compelling a lot of the time. Also, loved the twist about Matthew not being the 'only one' and the other guy over in Rush Street - didn't see that one coming and could see how that would have sent Matthew into a tailspin.

PS. I haven't read American Psycho so can't comment on any similarity but I'm now quite interested reading it on the basis of the comments here.

I really tried to like the book, but I just never connected with the Matthew character and really understood his descent into depression. I thought some parts of the book very unreal.

It is not a bad book at all, I just didn't like it - sorry!

I wouldn't say I found this book enjoyable but i did find it very engaging and didn't put it down for a day and a half - much to DH's annoyance.

Although I couldn't identify with Matthew much, and found him to be rather annoying, i was very interested in what was happening to him. I wouldn't say he was sliding into depression though - more like madness and delusion.

The decision to leave his family at the beginning was very odd and sudden - and not to contact them properly for a year - surely there would have been signs of irrational thought before he got to the stage of leaving?

I enjoyed the peeks into the other tennants' lives, and the way he brought them into the story was clever. I also enjoyed the revelation about Rush Street and almost felt betrayed for him - and in hindsight there were clues, such as the holiday he 'forgot' that he booked for whatshisname boss man. Would there really have been that much work generated by bossman (have completely forgotten his name )

I have to admit to being a bit confused about - oh - PING!!! Just had a lightbulb moment!!!! I thought that the son had witnessed the splatt - thought that he was all bashed up in hospital - (thought "but surely he wouldnt have survived") but now it all makes sense....feel VERY STUPID!!!

Well, now i have outed myself as dunce i will slink away....but i must just say that if i was his wife i wouldnt be taking him back. OR maybe i would, dont know. How could you ever trust him to behave like a normal person again? What if he forgot to take his medication? You would forever be thinking "will he be there when i get in or not?". And could you really forgive him for the effect of all this on your daughter? Hmmm.

Ok, i will spare you from anymore musings. Thanks maria for a thought provoking, different book.