space
Reader Reviews | |
Review by Chrissi (310811) Rating (8/10) Review
by Chrissi This is the story of a man whose subconscious is attempting to protect him from the massive grief that he is experiencing after a car accident which resulted in the loss of his family. In his memories there are times when he was unaware of how awful life can be, and those experiences provide a framework used to prevent unpleasant memories from being faced, although somehow his mind is becoming more fragile and vulnerable to the ingress of these hidden, damped down memories. The story of Isaac Steward is expressed as a narrative; he does not know what is happening in his own mind, and as such it is more distanced, allowing you to observe but not interact, allowing us to better appreciate the images offered up to us. We are not asked to judge the man and his life, we actually know very little about him, but we are shown his capacity for love, illustrated by scenes with his wife and young sons.
The story left me with some very powerful evocative images; to
an adult, the harshness of a Punch and Judy show as seen through
the eyes of a child; the idea of a tree and what it means to us
at different times in our life; how memories are distilled by
time into single expressions regardless of role or circumstance.
As someone unaccustomed to reading literary fiction, I do not
know whether a series of beautifully clear impressions and images
in the head of the reader are an acceptable goal for a writer,
but as a reader, I rather enjoyed my afternoon inside the head
of Isaac Steward. |
|
Column Ends |
space