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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shock horror! A man tells the truth!, 18 Feb 2001
By A Customer
Being neither a fan of James Bond or the current soppy trend for novels about men 'bonding' with children, I approached this story with extreme caution. But unlike books like 'About A Boy' or 'Man and Boy', 'From Stockport With Love' actually tells the truth about the darker side of fatherhood. When his first child is born, the main character feels alienated from the baby and supplies us with the most honest account of male post-natal depression I've ever come across. Then the baby is diagnosed with a serious heart defect. Only when he realises that he might lose his son does our hero start to feel what all fathers hope to feel. I found this book riveting and very powerful.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Story of Male Postpartum Denial More Shakey Than Stirring, 28 May 2007
This apparently semi-autobiographical novel is a somewhat odd take on the kind of "emotionally immature man must finally grow up" light dramady perfected by Nick Hornby. As it starts, we meet James Bond superfan John Bryce on the eve of his son's birth -- and it's immediately obvious that he's terrified by the thought of being a father. And in the following weeks he feels little connection to the wee lad and erects an emotional Berlin wall around himself. Meanwhile, his own father lies in a hospital, felled by a stroke and unable to speak. The final assault on his psyche is the discovery that the baby has a heart defect and must have a risky operation.
John doesn't handle this very well and is told by his all-too-forgiving wife to go off get his head straight. Already well on the way to a mental breakdown, this leeway to run away sends him into a semi-comedic break with reality. He sort of thinks he's James Bond, his father is M, and the heart surgeon a Bond villain whose nefarious plan to kill the baby must be stopped. So he rents an Aston Martin, buys a replica Beretta and shoulder holster, and heads off to tool around France, eat a little food, hit a casino, and catch up with a sexy pen pal from school. This is all kind of funny, but also a bit clunky. It's often not really clear if he really thinks he's Bond, or if he's just having a bit o a role-playing lark. Either way, the book is sprinkled with heavy doses of Bond references (to both book and film versions), which are probably much funnier to fellow Bond-lovers than the average reader.
The story's treatment of John's inability to deal with being a father -- which might be viewed as a kind of male postpartum denial -- is only so-so. The seriousness of these very real issues are undercut by the comedic treatment and, as in so many of these kinds of books, John is the beneficiary of an unnaturally patient wife. Where the book is much better is in his reflections on his childhood and his own father. These bits are much more bittersweet and realistic, and for that reason, touching. The overall message is that you can't wait to express how you feel, because it might be too late when you get around to it. This is isn't anything groundbreaking, but because the consequences are very real, it resonates a great deal more with the reader.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Licensed to make you laugh, cry and re think you values., 29 Nov 2000
By A Customer
This book has the unusual capacity to be childishly funny and moving in an extremely adult way. These two conflicting emotions occur frequently on the same page, in the same paragraph, even in the same sentence. I have also heard that it might be made into a film and believe that, with extremely careful direction, it could be an unusual and outstanding piece of work.
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