A Lamb feast

I have two books to recommend both written by the same author. My friends that know me, know that I love a bargain. Both these books were 'bargains' by virtue of their sheer size (number of pages) - I really felt I was getting my money's worth! I was also really fascinated by both these books but they are completely different stories - one I loved and one I was intrigued, repulsed and haunted by.

The first....Wally Lamb's 'I Know This Much is True'. It is a huge read and took a while to get into, but then I couldn't put it down and was completely absorbed by the characters and the interwoven stories.

Without giving too much away, I Know This Much is True centers on Dominick Birdsey's whose entire life has been ruled by anger and fear, by the paranoid schizophrenic twin brother he both deeply loves and resents, and by the past they shared with their adoptive father, Ray, a split-and-polish ex-Navy man, and their long-suffering mother, Concettina, a timid woman with a harelip that made her shy and self-conscious.


Searching for answers for the disfunctional relationships that exist in his family and his personal life, Dominick turns to the pages of his grandfather's handwritten memoir, The History of Domenico Onofrio Tempesta, a Great Man from Humble Beginnings. 

Domenico's fablelike tale--in which monkeys enchant and religious statues weep--becomes the old man's confessional--an unwitting legacy of contrition that reveals the truth's of Domenico's life, Dominick leans that power, wrongly used, defeats the oppressor as well as the oppressed, and now, comparing with his current life, he will search for the courage and love to forgive his ancestors, and finally to rebuild himself beyond the shadow of his twin.


It is a mammoth book, but one I would highly recommend.

The second book...Wally Lamb's 'She's Come Undone'.

This book has stayed with me for a long time - and some bits of it I would rather I had forgotten. "Mine is a story of craving: an unreliable account of lusts and troubles that began, somehow, in 1956 on the day our free television was delivered...."

Meet Dolores Price. She"s 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Beached like a whale in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally rolls into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she"s determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly-up.

The book covers many topics including the fact that her mother had a mental illness and her own abuse at the hands of a neighbour are taboo topics at that time and her family ignores it all.  I found it difficult to like Dolores and her obesity issues but it was a compelling read. The fact that this book was written by a male author is amazing as he writes so convincingly about the trauma and emotional battles facing this teenage girl.

I would definitely recommend this book as it tells an amazing story and is brilliantly written, but I can't say that I loved all the topics or felt too much compassion for the main character - maybe that's just me?