I know this much is true (I Know This Much Is True - Wally Lamb)

Member Name: crystalclara

Product:	I Know This Much Is True - Wally Lamb
Date:	18/12/01 (616 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: well written, good reading, challenging

Disadvantages: very long

I know this much is true.



I’d never heard of Wally Lamb, when I came across this book in my local nearly- new bookshop.

It was the picture on the front that drew me in – it is a scene, in silhouette, of two boys, quite young running along an embankment with their dog. ( I don’t believe that the dog ever materialized in the story!!) This scene was very emotive; and the juxtaposition of two seemingly happy and carefree boys, and the darkness shown in the picture , struck me as intriguingly sinister.

Since picking up this book. I discovered that Wally Lamb is one of Oprah Winfrey’s book club writers (she picks out some of her favourite reading , and encourages her audience to read and discuss these works with her.) She’d previously discussed his book, “She’s come undone”, on her show. Having read some of her recommended works before, and been quite impressed, I decided to give this book a go.

Reading “I know this much is true”, requires a great commitment. It is a very long book, at 897 pages! I read through about 300 pages, and found myself having to give the book a break before I could continue on to the end. This was because the book is very emotionally challenging, and draining too. It’s not a happy book; and will pull you through a whole range of emotions. That being said, once I had reached the end of the story, which is quite neatly tied up for you; and having expended so many tears throughout the book, I felt as if I had reached a more peaceful place, along with the main character. I didn’t come away from the book feeling traumatised.

The story is told in the first person, by Dominick, and is about his relationship with his twin brother Thomas, who developes schizophrenia. It is also about the complex relationships between the boys and other people in their lives, notably their mother and step father. Dominick has searched
his entire life for his real father, and the lessons he learns towards the end of the book, about love and parentage, have a profound effect on him; and probably many of Lamb’s readers. The story is told in the present tense, and flash backs are used to fill us in on the past. The story depicts Dominick’s journey through life, and shows the battles he has to fight in order in order to confront the demons of his past, and more on towards a more peaceful and settled personal and emotional existence.

It’s hard to encourage people to read a book that you suspect will probably depress them at times, and will definitely having them crying. As I said at the beginning this is no light reading, and once you’ve read it, you do need to go away a read something fun! I saw reading this book almost as an exercise in forcing me to confront some of my fears and desires, and to do some work on my own personal , and emotional life. This book helped me reach , maybe not a place of security or stability, but has gone along way to helping me address some of the things in my past that have haunted me.

Each reader will no doubt bring to this book, different experiences; and find that they achieve different levels of personal equilibrium.

I would certainly recommend that people give this very challenging book a go. At times when I found it hard going, (but never unreadable), I would remember the sense of satisfaction I got from reading difficult texts at school, and getting to the end -having worked hard on them- and finally gaining a degree of understanding for the characters and the writing. When I had come to the end of “I know this much is true”, I really DID know that this much is true!

The Associated Press, have written that, “ every now and then a book comes along that sets new standards for writers and readers alike. Wally Lamb’s latest novel is stunning – and even that might be an und
erstatement. “ Says it all I think.

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