A Closed Book Review: 'Life is not a novel.'

Hey readers,

I thought I'd read and review another book that as been sat on my shelf for a while. This one was suggested to me by one of my MA tutors during a lecture about very different books which don't fit into main stream reading. I brought it as it sounded interesting and possibly useful for secondary reading. However, I never got a chance to read it and as the last two months have been about reading stuff I've not gotten around to, I thought that this one would fit in.

The author, Gilbert Adair, a Scottish journalist, poet and novelist spent most of his life in Paris and London. He is most famous for his translation of A Void and Love and Death on Long Island. He is also know for his children's stories and his film reviews. A Closed Book was published in 1999 and in 2010 he collaborated on the screenplay for the movie.  He passed away in December 2011.

The novel is about a famous fictional writer, Paul, who has been blinded in an accident. He wants to write his memoirs and so hires someone, John, to help him do so. A first meeting and interview takes place between the two and then they begin the writing process. However, tension starts to build as Paul begins to sense that things aren't right. Objects and clothing appear to move or disappear and he also becomes suspicious that his dictated memoirs aren't actually being typed up. Then it is revealed that John is a figure from Paul's past and he's returned to seek revenge for a crime.    

The title of the book is really interesting and it has a lot of meaning behind it. This becomes revealed in the plot and can also be seen between the lines. Paul's memoirs are given this title as it connects with the writer being blind and living in something of a closed world. The other is to the crime which John is seeking revenge for as it's believed that it was forgotten about and so became a 'closed book' due to the saying. There are other symbolic things connecting to this title and it is very clever.

There is a limited number of characters that appear as the focus is on the friendship between Paul and John. They are well around characters, though because of the narrative structure of the novel we end up with a bias  opinion about them. This just adds to the mystery and tension that is created as we don't get a full picture about either of them.

The other characters feel like they are just there to help move the plot long or else make a statement. The housekeeper that Paul has seems to be nothing more then an obstacle that John must get rid of. This is some what done for him as the housekeeper's husband falls ill and needs looking after. However, this adds to the tension as Paul becomes powerless to stop John in allowing the housekeeper time off. Anther character that sticks in my mind is a representative of a local council party visiting the house. This is because the only role this character plays is to confirm that the book is being written and that the tension is getting to John. This doesn't effect the reading or the plot in general, I just feel that these characters could have been made more useful.

The novel has a very strange and different narrative as it is written only in the conversations or in Paul's diary enters. This means that the narratives lacks description and only overcomes this by Paul getting John to describe things around him as proof that John has a good eye for detail. Being just written as different conversations means that there is a lot to be read in-between the lines and that we don't get close to the characters. It feels like this narrative structure shouldn't work, but it over comes issues to work and it does this very cleverly. Thus it feels like a different and refreshing read as you've not got the massive description and blocks of plot that can appear in other stories and slow things down.

It is stated that the novel is styled on the works of Stephen King and Agatha Christie due to the eerie atmosphere that is created and the twists that take place. This does come across well in the novel and it easily sits on the crime shelf. The language used as its bases in these writers because they are masters of their genres. Adair has been able to add his own influence into the language as well and because of the narrative structure how he has used language to create the the tension and mystery is important.

The Movie came out in 2010 and though I've not seen it I've read enough about it to put me off seeing it. This is because it looks completely different from the book as the characters and plot have been changed to make it more balanced. I feel that this wasn't needed and that the the plot of the book works really well.

Overall, I would recommended this book if you are a fan of the two writers it's in the style of. Also if you are into your crime or if you are interested in looking at different narrative styles. I did enjoy this book, but it wasn't for me because the big twist at the end has become over used now and it didn't pay off for me.
     



Images from:

http://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/a-closed-book-by-gilbert-adair/