Jeannie is the leader of our poetry group at the British Club here in Las Palmas and I'm very happy to comment on her latest book 'Gone'. I will probably go on a bit and hope that you will bear with me!
Basically it's a book to EXPERIENCE rather than to enjoy, forcing you to ask pertinent questions such as:
- Why do we so readily invite certain people into our lives when we know so little about them?
. Why is it so difficult to help people 'worse off'than ourselves without being taken advantage of?
- When we do help people 'in need' what relationship is formed between the helper and the helped?
- What kind of shoe best describes you and why?
- If you had to choose between your old love (boring and predictable but comfortable) and your new love (sexy and exciting but relatively unknown) which would you choose?
- What is it that is so seductive about religion and beliefs that they can cause families to be torn apart?
Quotes from the book:
'Only the artist knows when a picture is complete'.
'Who knows what goes on in the minds of other human beings?'.
'There are days when I don't want to be stimulated, days when I feel too old to survive in the environment of suspense, excitement and fear that such a city generates'.
'We all have our breaking points'.
'One way or another you always have to pay'.
'It's no good thinking of others .. In this world it's enough to look after Number One'.
'It's impossible to cure all the world's ills at the same time. We just have to do our little bit and trust that what we do will make some difference'.
'Religion was a necessary invention so that human beings could cope with the complexity of life and the fear of death'.
'You'll never achieve anything by walking backwards'.
Structure and Plot (without too many spoilers!);
The book is written in three parts. The first two parts 'Gone' and 'Changes' are told through the eyes of Sarah and Alec respectively and relate the events leading up to the disappearance of their twins and how they each as parents coped with the realisation of what has happened. The third part 'Onward' suggests ways of moving on. Although this seems to be a straightforward format it transpires that 'Gone' is actually a book (or rather a computer file) within the book, a Paul Auster-like Mobius twist. Alec finds the file on the compter and reads it without Sarah's knowledge. His response is to create his own version of the events and to email the document to Sarah. It is crucial to the plot that he takes a long time to rationalise his thoughts and to finish his account; had he been quicker to act events would have moved on differently.
The opening pages really do draw the reader in and arouse curiosity. The early reference to angels which at the time seems to be a device merely for some colourful description is significant and becomes clear later. In the first two parts the characters of Sarah and Alec are carefully developed and are clearly contrasting; she looking inward and harbouring her perceived guilt and he looking outward and being pracical and active in trying to find out just what has happened to the twins. The theory as to the fate of the twins is engaging and informative and there is no doubt in the reader's mind that that this is indeed the true explanation which Sarah and Alec have to accept.
I wonder whether Jeannie considered adding an epilogue giving the twins' account of events. However, to quote from the book, 'Only the artist knows when a picture is complete' so I guess only Jeannie knows when the book is complete!
Having read 'Gone' I now look forward to savouring more of Jeannie's writing.
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