Week #06 - The Shock of the Fall ¦ none

I borrowed The Shock of the Fall because it had just won the 2013 Costa Book of the Year and it was also Nathan Filer's debut novel. I like my debut novels. They are either great or exceptionally pretentious. Thankfully this falls into the former.

Spoilers (for want of a better word) contained in the review.

Matthew is 9 when his brother Simon dies in an accident. Matthew blames himself on it which leads to his battle with his mental health that gets worse and worse as he gets older. Not only has Matthew lost a brother he loves he also feels the responsibility for his brothers death.

This story is about the power guilt has to lay waste to a life. Because there is no tangible link between this accident and the downward spiral of Matthew, no one puts it together. His parents, good people, don't understand either. They know Matthew had nothing to do with the accident, however they don't notice that Matthew is all consumed by it.

We follow Matthew in the downward spiral through his trips to different psychologists, before his eventual incarceration into the mental health system. The place these sick people are put into never helps "There is literally nothing to do" only the drugs can do that.

3.5/5

Music this week: I listened to lots, none new, just to get my head back into loving music again. Next week an oldie with a new twist.