This Is How
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Review
'A novel of extraordinary power ... Hyland tells her story in a supercharged present tense, tremblingly aware of physical detail.' --Guardian
'This is an expertly paced, gripping novel that doesn't falter and never compromises its emotional truth.' --The Times
'A tour de force. Hyland illuminates this man's damaged soul with such a steely, brilliant clarity that your heart breaks for him.' --Helen Garner
'When you've been reading Hyland, other writers seem to lack integrity ... whereas she aims straight for the truth and the heart.' --Hilary Mantel
'Three or four days [after finishing the novel], Hyland's white-hot prose was still smouldering in my head.' --Financial Times
'This is an expertly paced, gripping novel that doesn't falter and never compromises its emotional truth.' --The Times
'A tour de force. Hyland illuminates this man's damaged soul with such a steely, brilliant clarity that your heart breaks for him.' --Helen Garner
'When you've been reading Hyland, other writers seem to lack integrity ... whereas she aims straight for the truth and the heart.' --Hilary Mantel
'Three or four days [after finishing the novel], Hyland's white-hot prose was still smouldering in my head.' --Financial Times
Product Description
Patrick is a loner. An intelligent but disturbed young man struggling to find his place in the world. He ventures out on his own and as he begins to find happiness commits an act of violence that sends his life horribly and irreversibly out of control. But should a person's life be judged by a single bad act? This is How is a compelling and macabre journey into the dark side of human existence and a powerful meditation on the nature of guilt and redemption.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This author really knows how to write dialogue -- credible and spare. Some of the descriptions of characters and rooms were brutally vivid. You really get sucked into the mindset of the anti-hero, and I'd recommend this to anyone who likes a dark but page-turning read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
From the moment when Patrick Oxtoby knocks on the door of the boarding house in the stiflingly quiet and dull seaside town to which he has moved to start a new life, through to the redefining action his character performs in the final paragraph; M J Hyland's novel moves along at a remarkable pace. This is no mean feat considering Patrick's aimless existence at the start of the book: days structured around boarding-house meals, walks on the seafront, passing the hours in pubs and cafes and trying to make way as a mechanic in a town where there is clearly not enough work. The sparse, tense exchanges with his fellow inmates at the boarding house and his attempts to form romantic links with his landlady and a café waitress are brilliantly written in loaded scenes which any fan of Harold Pinter's plays will appreciate. The tensions underlying the dialogue and Patrick's behaviour are most palpable. Patrick is not a well man, and the reader is immediately drawn in to a mounting sense that something bad will soon happen. Sure enough, Hyland brings Patrick's meanderings to a shocking climax about one third of the way into the book.
It is hard to cover the remaining events without giving away too much. There is no let-up in the pace nor on the bleak trajectory of Patrick's story - I took this book on holiday and was so absorbed by the writing, I read the whole novel in just three sittings. Despite the tragic inevitability of what happens following Patrick's `crime', Hyland builds in surprising poignancy, with redeeming instances of compassion and tenderness coming from the unlikeliest of sources.
The overall effect of this excellent novel is quite remarkable, largely down to Hyland's pared-down style of writing. Patrick's matter-of-fact narration makes the story all the more convincing and moving. There is little obvious and potentially distracting intervention from the author by having Patrick speculate or equivocate on his actions and those of others. As the title suggests, Patrick, through Hyland, is simply telling us how it is.
It is hard to cover the remaining events without giving away too much. There is no let-up in the pace nor on the bleak trajectory of Patrick's story - I took this book on holiday and was so absorbed by the writing, I read the whole novel in just three sittings. Despite the tragic inevitability of what happens following Patrick's `crime', Hyland builds in surprising poignancy, with redeeming instances of compassion and tenderness coming from the unlikeliest of sources.
The overall effect of this excellent novel is quite remarkable, largely down to Hyland's pared-down style of writing. Patrick's matter-of-fact narration makes the story all the more convincing and moving. There is little obvious and potentially distracting intervention from the author by having Patrick speculate or equivocate on his actions and those of others. As the title suggests, Patrick, through Hyland, is simply telling us how it is.
18 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
MJ Hyland has an unusual fondness for violent misfits. In her excellent novel Carry Me Down (2006), her pubescent protagonist John Egan learns the hard way that covering mummy's face with a pillow won't necessarily make her any happier. Now, in This Is How, Hyland presents the story of Patrick Oxtoby, a down-and-out mechanic in a seaside town who turns out to be a kind of Raskolnikov tribute act. In a drunken rage, poor anger-prone Patrick learns the hard way that clobbering someone with a wrench can have serious consequences.
The publisher seems oddly reluctant to tell you that this is a book about the aftermath of a violent crime, referring only to Patrick's "tragic undoing" and supplying a pretty little cover with a man and a dog. In reality, this misleadingly advertised novel is a compelling and macabre journey to the dark side of human existence.
Like Carry Me Down, This Is How is told through sparse, present-tense, first-person narration that rattles along at a crackling pace, capturing Patrick's shock and vulnerability as events spiral rapidly beyond his control. The result is a gripping, readable and surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of a memorable antihero.
Patrick protests his innocence on the grounds that he never "intended" to do anything wrong. "My mind played hardly any part," he tell us, "but my body acted and, as far as the law is concerned, my body may as well be all that I am". Is there some truth in this "don't blame me!" determinism? This is the central issue the novel explores.
Personally, I'm not convinced. Anger, loneliness, loss of control, ignorance, drunkenness... these are causes of violence, but not excuses. We don't have to let our irrational bloodlust get the better of us. When we do, we're responsible for what results. It's left to the reader to decide whether Patrick deserves to be held accountable for his horrific deed. If you read it let me know what you think.
The publisher seems oddly reluctant to tell you that this is a book about the aftermath of a violent crime, referring only to Patrick's "tragic undoing" and supplying a pretty little cover with a man and a dog. In reality, this misleadingly advertised novel is a compelling and macabre journey to the dark side of human existence.
Like Carry Me Down, This Is How is told through sparse, present-tense, first-person narration that rattles along at a crackling pace, capturing Patrick's shock and vulnerability as events spiral rapidly beyond his control. The result is a gripping, readable and surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of a memorable antihero.
Patrick protests his innocence on the grounds that he never "intended" to do anything wrong. "My mind played hardly any part," he tell us, "but my body acted and, as far as the law is concerned, my body may as well be all that I am". Is there some truth in this "don't blame me!" determinism? This is the central issue the novel explores.
Personally, I'm not convinced. Anger, loneliness, loss of control, ignorance, drunkenness... these are causes of violence, but not excuses. We don't have to let our irrational bloodlust get the better of us. When we do, we're responsible for what results. It's left to the reader to decide whether Patrick deserves to be held accountable for his horrific deed. If you read it let me know what you think.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very moving novel
I bought this after reading MJ Hyland's interview with the 'Cat Bin Woman' in the Financial Times last year (search for it - well worth a read). Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. D. E. Calladine
Average
A disaffected and dysfunctional young man, Patrick Oxtoby, follows being dumped by his fiancee by checking into a boarding house, persistently rejecting his fellow boarders,... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Scaroth, Last of the Jagaroth
Brilliant ... a must read
No deep analysis from me, just a brilliant book, the best I've read in ages and a reiteration of how we must be aware of the consequences of our actions. Read more
Published 7 months ago by LMSinclair
This is how ... to write a superb novel.
This book deserves to join the ranks of other great books of crime and punishment. In its intensity and honesty it recalls classic prison narratives such as Solzhenitsyn's One Day... Read more
Published 8 months ago by A. Mortlock
Disturbing and convincing
*SPOILERS*
Despite an apparent lack of action, this book moves along at a brisk pace and is never anything less than fascinating. Read more
Despite an apparent lack of action, this book moves along at a brisk pace and is never anything less than fascinating. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Lou79
Sparce and Gripping
A deeply unsettling book that is sufficiently gripping that it makes you want to complete it at a single sitting; and certainly one of those that makes it difficult to decide... Read more
Published 8 months ago by pantodame
This is Brillant!
From the moment I finished the first page I knew I was going to love this book! I was immersed in the world created by the writer form the get go and to use a cliche found it... Read more
Published 9 months ago by LadyLenska
Simply extraordinary
MJ Hyland writes as well as anyone I have read. At first glance her prose seems deceptively simple, yet each sentence is crammed with detail and insight and there's not an ounce of... Read more
Published 9 months ago by M. Hutchinson
Second reading's even better!
Hyland's writing is a force to be reckoned with. I enjoyed the novel immensely my first time around in a quick, eager read. The second time was even better! Read more
Published 9 months ago by J.K.
This is How
This was a book club choice, the librarian decides what titles we read according to the availability of the books. We are to meet next week to discuss. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Charlotte Lee
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