Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.” —Groucho Marx

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Dark Lake by Anthea Carson....a Review


This author sent me a request to read and review her book and included a free download from Amazon Kindle.   What a thrill to be asked to read and be given the free copy!   I am honored to do so.   I enjoyed the excerpts she had on her blog and thought the story sounded interesting.   I am sorry to say, I did not enjoy this book.   The author took a risk with her main character being mentally ill.   The writing went back and forth between Jane of present day and twenty years ago and it was difficult to follow who Jane was speaking to, whether it be her parents, her friends or her therapist.  And it was unsettling that you could not discern whether her friend Krishna was dead or alive, a real person or a fantasy.  I think she was alive and real in the end.    For me, these issues were never clearly resolved and I was left with more questions than answers.  I did not like the main character who was very well developed…her failure to “grow up” was disturbing and her anger issues were very annoying.   However, I am thinking this may have been what the author’s goal was.  And if so, she succeeded.  Of course I am an older adult and am thankful for my children, considering that  Jane could have been a non fictional person and possibly mine.   Thank you Anthea for asking me to read and review.  I am sure the story will linger with me and be in my thoughts and I will probably try to read it again later to see if I glean a different perspective.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, there are times when a book lingers with you even though you are annoyed about it. Power of books!!!

LM Preston said...

Wow, mental illness does that to people. It unsettles them, frustrates them and alienates them. The patient and the people around them. Wow it sounds like she made that experience real through her book. Good review.

Unknown said...

I appreciate both comments! Thank you!

Unknown said...

Thank you, Beth, for the very sincere and thoughtful review. I must say, this character isn't me, but probably would be if I were to relapse and drink again. Yes, I think there are characters like this, and they do suffer. I love the fact that you focused on the pain and the failure to grow up of this character rather than the whole issue of what happened and whether she was dead or alive. In a sense, she is dead even if she is alive, and you seemed to have picked up on that. Thank you again for the very thoughtful review,
Anthea

Unknown said...

Thank you for the honor Anthea!