Not A Gripping Drama Set In Antarctica

NB this novel is in three parts: Lean, Fall and Stand. Lean is a gripping drama set in Antarctica. But Fall and Stand are the story of recovering what you can after **Spoiler Alert Spoiler Alert** a stroke. Taken as a whole the novel is a coherent narrative, but if you want an ice-bound adventure, give up after Lean. Please don’t though. You’ll be missing out on what Jon McGregor is brilliant at, why we all need him so much, why I guzzle up his books as soon as I hear about him. Here’s an example: one of the characters has a stroke. Most writers, at that point, would move the first person perspective away from that character. The perspective has been switching between the characters anyway. But McGregor continues - in turn - seeing the world as that character, even as words and sense begin ebbing away. One of McGregor’s hallmarks is writing proper, carefully considered gibberish where it’s required. Another is repetition; another is a generally slow pace. You need patience. Then, in this novel anyway, Jon McGregor takes you, with honest, deliberate thoroughness, into one of your dark places, with a candle.

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Sorry, not for me

I managed 10 chapters, skipping bits, before giving up. I found it slow and depressing

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don't bother

exciting opening chapter. then increasingly dull. felt cheated as there was so little story and the therapy sessions which consumed 2/3rds of the book were lazy, ill informed, repetitive writing.
will no longer read his other novels as I had planned to after first few chapters.

Not quite what I was expecting

The book was beautifully narrated. However the story, having been heralded as an Antarctic adventure, was largely about the rehabilitation of a stroke patient. Well written and empathetic but not really what I was hoping for.

Communication

Never has there been so many ways to communicate, and never has there been such a lack of communication. Excellent book.