At last! I did it! I finished reading
I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb. Whew.
The novel places us in the viewpoint of Dominick Birdsey, a 40something from Connecticut with a twin. At the time we're introduced to him we learn a number of things: his twin is a schizophrenic, his mother has passed away, the man who raised him is his stepfather, and he has no clue who his biological father is. Each of these things are a source of stress, and oftentimes anger, for our narrator. The most trying aspect that we first face is his brother Thomas, and it is Thomas's actions from the beginning of the novel that propel us through. Importantly, Thomas's actions eventually lead Dominick to speak with Thomas's therapist (Dr. Patel), which then lets us into the world Dominick and Thomas grew up in and begins the weaving of past and present.
There are a number of issues tackled in the novel, from mental health and its stigma, the definitions of family, rape, war (the novel occurs during the Gulf War), life, death, homosexuality, and racism. Seriously, this book had every hard hitting issue imaginable. But Lamb eloquently wove each theme into the next.
The big thing that I can easily see readers getting irritated with is Dominick's general "woe is me" attitude. In fact, he once called it the "Dominick Birdsey Museum of Pain and Misery." It's not hard to understand how he got this attitude, what with the whole being responsible for his brother, having an abusive stepfather, losing close family members, getting divorced, and generally not being where he thought he would be at his age. There's a bit of complaining, tears and self-pity, and a whole lotta anger.
Being the nitpicky person that I am, I was really, really happy that Lamb did some serious research on the topic of schizophrenia, therapy, and the trajectory and changes of treatment over the years. It's because of the therapy process that Lamb included in the story line that I can't complain about one of the things I typically hate in books: random tragic past event memory (RTPEM). You know, the one that appears around half-way in the book to suddenly spice things up. Lamb did a decent job of making the RTPEM fit in and make it seem understandable why we didn't get introduced to it earlier.
There are a number of other plotlines that occur in this book other than Thomas and his schizophrenia. Dominick's relationships with his flaky girlfriend Joy, his ex-wife Dessa, and Ray, his stepfather. Dominick's "white guilt" and his interactions with Ralph Drinkwater (a Native American African-American boy/adult). The past of Dominick and Thomas's mother (Concettina) and the life of the man she idolzed, Papa.
It was an all around moving piece about family. There were a number of tear-jerking passages, and a couple of places where I knew I was supposed to cry but just couldn't. The first person writing made me feel as tired and worn out as Dominick and I just felt numb to some of the events.
It had a few twists (some predictable, quite a few not), but mostly nothing ridiculous. I generally have the problem of predicting the "twist" far in advance, and I didn't with this book. And I was so excited to have finally reached the end, that I didn't even get too pissed about the last chapter being those annoying wrap-up chapters.
Overall, a good yet exhausting read. I'd recommend it if you have the time, energy, and patience.
Now I'm off to read something fluffy and light and happy.
