To Tell You the Truth (The Liar - Stephen Fry)

Member Name: samueltyler

Product:	The Liar - Stephen Fry
Date:	06/05/09 (116 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Witty, intelligent, some good writing

Disadvantages: Overly complex, poor central narrative

The best liars are those that can convince themselves that they are telling the truth. These are the types of people that can fool a lie detector and escape unpunished. I often wonder if I could do this and the answer is probably no. I am hideously honest at times to the points were I cannot lie to my partner. When she is away for the day and returns asking what I had for lunch I should reply with a lie, "Hello dear, I ate a sandwich and a salad." Instead I tell the truth, "A Cornish pasty, three packets of crisps and a family size bag of Revels." The world would have continued spinning quite happily on its axis had I lied, but for some reason when she looks at me I tell the truth. A more convincing liar is Adrian Healey a naughty boy who grows up to be an unscrupulous man.

'The Liar' tells the story of Adrian Healey's life from school boy to grown man. Told in a non linear manner we uncover facts about Healey's past before they are revealed in the story. In the past Healey was an effeminate school boy at an all boys boarding school. He grows up to become a student at Cambridge and eventually a teacher. However, whilst doing this he also gets expelled, becomes a rent boy, gets involved in spy games and rewrites Dickens. What is truth and what is lies, is Healey anything at all, or just an empty vessel filled with fabrication?

When you think about Stephen Fry you probably have in your mind a very intelligent man who is also openly homosexual. If you imagine this Stephen Fry writing a book then you expect it would itself be intellectual and openly homosexual - and it is! The twin facets of intelligence and sexuality of any kind can be both a draw to a book, but also something to put people off. In terms of intelligence the book is brimming with witty one-liners and in chunks very well written. There is also a lot for the lover of the salacious with plenty of rude words and naughty goings on.

However, what can be seen as a positive can also be viewed as a negative. At times 'The Liar' is too intelligent and will alienate the reader; it did to me on occasion. The non linear narrative does not really work at the start and threw me for a few chapters as I tried to work out what was going on. The conclusion also felt a little flat as it failed to draw together the various threads of the book. In terms of writing the book is very good, unfortunately, the core story does not actually work that well. In terms of scenes of a sexual nature the sheer amount of rudity and nudity will be enough to unsettle people. Add into the mix a good pinch of homo - both erotic and toxic, and you will have some readers reaching for the address book and looking under D for - Daily Mail Letters Column.

There is no doubt that this book is perhaps overly sexual and overly high brow. However, what did you expect from an author who is perhaps best described with these words? I had no problem with the amount of sex in the book, both AC and DC, but am not so forgiving of the overly complex narrative structure and lack of real storyline.

Another area that could split audiences is the nature of the characters. At the core is Healey a man who is a compulsive liar and morally dubious. This is someone that you are unlikely to love, but does this matter? The entire book does not have the nicest people in it, but at least they are interesting. The idea that what Healey is telling us may be truth or lies is a good one and as they say why ruin a good story by telling the truth? Although I did not particularly like the characters in the book I did enjoy reading about them.

I have read criticisms of this book that it takes too much from Fry's own autobiography and twists it into fiction. This would explain how elements feel disjointed, some truthful, the others fiction. The book is well written, funny in places and intelligent. However, if becomes undone slightly because it tries too hard to be intelligent and rude. The narrative structure undermines the central story and the amount of sex in the becomes less titillation and more constipation as you wade through it. There are signs here that with a more traditional structure Fry could write a brilliant book (which he later did with 'The Stars' Tennis Balls'). As for 'The Liar' one for fans of Fry only.

Author: Stephen Fry
Year: 1991
Price: amazon uk - £5.99
play.com - £5.99

Summary: A little too clever for its own good