Authors stand or fall on their
ability to create believable voices and as a reader that sense of being completely
immersed in a character’s world is one of the unique joys of fiction. In “The
Shock of the Fall” Nathan Filer has created a truly memorable voice for
Matthew, his troubled young protagonist who sets out to relate the story of the
death of Simon (his down’s syndrome brother) and to chart the ensuing legacy of
his own mental health issues.
The book is essentially Matthew’s
story, told in a series of flawed flashbacks and incomplete fragments of
memory. The novel is part-confessional, part document, part epistle, complete
with occasional line drawings and official letters. The sense of emotional
connection to the main character is palpable, evoked entirely through the
strength and depth of Filer’s writing. To my mind it was a worthy outright
winner of the Costa Book of the Year (fully accepting the inherent limitations
of that multiple-genre competition which one critic described as comparing
custard to curry).
The comparison back to Mark
Haddon’s “Curious Incident” is an obvious association, but they are very
different in their overall approach and intent. I was struck by the uneasy feeling
of suspense that Filer develops throughout the story as we slowly tease out the
facts surrounding Simon’s death. His clever use of multiple viewpoints within a
first-person narrative provides a resonant echo back to Matthew’s schizophrenic
personality.
From the kernel of a fairly
simple story Filer has managed to create a layered narrative of real depth and
complexity.
I’m intrigued to see what he
decides to write next.
After all, it’s a beginning.
No comments:
Post a Comment