Can I first give you the official blurb:
"Tim Farnsworth is a handsome, healthy man, ageing with the grace of a matinée idol. He loves his work. He loves his family. He loves his kitchen. And then one day he stands up and walks out on all of it. He cannot stop walking. And, as his body propels him relentlessly forward, deep into the unfamiliar outer reaches of the city, he begins to realise he is moving further and further from his old self, seemingly unable to turn back and retrieve what he has lost."
The "Unnamed" of the title is a mysterious illness that compels Tim Farnsworth to walk. Despite the misleading blurb, we actually join the story at the third relapse of Tim's walking compulsion, and begin to see the effect it has already had on his wife and daughter. We start to understand Tim's true predicament: his illness is not one that anyone has heard of, or treated, before. This slow reveal is the best part of the narrative, with sly chronological shifts adding to the mysterious premise.
A fascinating set-up is complicated further with a sidebar courtroom drama, as Tim's job as a high-flying corporate lawyer is endangered by his illness, and an important case is compromised (despite a fortuitous meeting with a strange man on a bridge with a knife). As Tim's world slowly crumbles around him, he is forced to evaluate what is most important to him.
Where this book falls apart, I have to sadly admit, is in the third section, where Tim takes his fourth and fatal walk out the door. Having resurrected his marriage with long-suffering wife Jane, Tim relapses and sets off across the country. What has been up till now a fascinating literary concept turns into pages upon pages of "crazy talk" which, in and of itself is a clever enough representation of a man's descent into madness, it really goes on too long. As he becomes more and more unhinged, as he cares less and less for his physical health, the narrative turns into a grab-bag of unappealing medical terminology and repeated tumble-turns of sanity.
This is a real pity, because at the centre of this book is a real heart, and the many passages (especially those between Tim and Jane) are extremely moving. I would recommend this book for its concept, for some extraordinary passages of writing, and the actual ambition of what is a very clever concept. And it did keep me up finishing it, so that has to count for something.
And, once more, Penguin completely has completely buggered up the cover ("Ooh! New Candace Bushnell! Wait a minute..."):
*Further to this, could The Unnamed by termed a "Neuronovel?" Read the fascinating article about this trend on n + 1
2 comments:
Well as you know I loved And Then We Came to an End...it must have been a hard act to follow.
I will look forward to reading this...even if it doesn't live up to the previous book
I also loved Then We Came to the End. But I did think that the middle section - where it left the first person plural voice and followed the boss's cancer struggle - a little hard to reconcile with the rest of the book. Perhaps this might be a theme with Ferris: fantastic premise, but can't always keep it up the whole way through? Having said that, I'm still very excited to read The Unnamed.
And with you all the way on the covers - I thought the US cover for the first book (with the sticky notes) was perfect.
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