crabbygirl reviewed I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
Review of "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
So weirdly, I thought the title referenced a wish to kill themselves and didn't realize until pg 33 that it was referencing a break-up, and so I had to start the book all over again. except I was right the first time. jeez
this author wrote tension WELL. the level of unease, and even physical nausea, that I felt hasn't been matched since Blindness by Jose Saramago (there was even his style of halting the story to mediate on philosophical issues). Unrolling like a movie, the plot starts midway thru a roadtrip to meet the parents' of a boyfriend who live deep in the country, where there's no one else nearby. Things turn weird as soon as they arrive but there's no way to escape; no people to plead with. Things get progressively worse as you scream at the narrator to NOT LEAVE THE CAR! but you're trapped in the …
So weirdly, I thought the title referenced a wish to kill themselves and didn't realize until pg 33 that it was referencing a break-up, and so I had to start the book all over again. except I was right the first time. jeez
this author wrote tension WELL. the level of unease, and even physical nausea, that I felt hasn't been matched since Blindness by Jose Saramago (there was even his style of halting the story to mediate on philosophical issues). Unrolling like a movie, the plot starts midway thru a roadtrip to meet the parents' of a boyfriend who live deep in the country, where there's no one else nearby. Things turn weird as soon as they arrive but there's no way to escape; no people to plead with. Things get progressively worse as you scream at the narrator to NOT LEAVE THE CAR! but you're trapped in the movie, and you're going to have to see it through. And yet...And yet.. if the tension is not actually real, and we're supposed to be rooting for the girl/victim, are we left caring about how it all ended? Sadly, I say: No. High points for style and atmosphere but if this is how Psycho ended - no one would have filmed it
