Your Mind Is Not Your Own

I am (or was) reading two books, at the same time, about amnesia. Which was probably not the smartest route to go. So I gave up one to finish the other, which was for book club.

We read Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson. I did not love it. I did not hate it. I was ambivalent about it, which I think is the worst thing to be, when talking about a book.

The premise has this woman waking up every day with no memory - or very little memory, hovering around her childhood. Just writing that sentence bored me into oblivion; I have no love for the main character. It was an amnesia based "Sleeping With the Enemy", broken into three parts. The first part was present day, the second part was a journal portion (which was supposed to help her regain memory) and the last part was back into 'present day'. The journal part was incredibly excruciating. I get that it was written so as we 'felt' her amnesia. But the repetitive nature was awful. And what made me feel total ambivalence toward the main character. By the end of the story, the 'thrilling' conclusion was so contrived, I just wanted to see it end. And I was put out that it insisted I go along this insipid journey only to have everything wrapped up in a very predictable tidy bow. Sigh. Not even surprised by any of it in the least.

I need a good book. I've had a string of not so great ones and I'm anxious to whet my tongue on something good...great. I'm much more hopeful about the other, non book club amnesia book, The Last Letter From Your Lover. And this month is our classic book pick for book club. We're reading The Picture of Dorian Gray. Oscar Wilde is always a good read, no?


(addicted to love, robert palmer)