I haven’t read the book, haven’t seen the movie starring Harrison Ford, haven’t seen the new Apple TV series starring Theroux nephew – I had nothing particular in mind when I opened this book.
It was my first time to read Paul Theroux’s fiction, and I could quickly recognize his writing style even in this new genre. It was easy to read, the plot pulls you along on this journey from admiration to insanity.
Before reading this I would say that the events described within are fairly improbable. Maybe back when it was written in the late 1970’s it seemed that way too. But the way the book is written and the slow progress that is made gradually shows a man losing touch with reality, and a family finding their way back.
I saw a lot of Donald Trump in the character of “Father” – perfectly willing to ignore reality or alter it to serve his own purposes. Father in this book is a master of quieting doubt by showing strength and (unwarranted) confidence – and when people around him start to finally see through it some bad things happen.
Often the character of Father is grating – how can he say stuff like this, and why does his wife and family stick around without snapping him back to the real world? The character of Mother is quite weak in this book (something the author acknowledges in the afterword written much later) – it is hard to imagine someone letting this happen to their own family.
I’m not sure I’ll go out and see the movie or the miniseries, but I really enjoyed this book.
Next I am reading Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn.
