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49th out of 91 books
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6 voters
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The Book of Emmett
Emmett Brown was a charming young man who quoted poetry and read to his wife and young family from the great novels of the world. But failed efforts to win a fortune at the racetracks turned Emmett into a broken down gambling drunk who terrorized his wife and children. Starting at Emmetts children must address the fallout of Emmett, and each comes to discover that they lov...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
January 1st 2010
by Random House Australia
(first published 2009)
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The name Emmett means ’all-containing; universal; and strength’ and although a baby naming website tells me that it is derived from Irish patriots commemorating Robert Emmet, it sounds as if it is of Biblical origin. This allusion in the title is clever because Emmett Brown is an Old Testament father indeed.
I’ll admit that I didn’t like the sound of this book; I’m not fond of the misery memoir genre and I suspected that a novel about an abusive father would be dreary. When The Book of E...more
I’ll admit that I didn’t like the sound of this book; I’m not fond of the misery memoir genre and I suspected that a novel about an abusive father would be dreary. When The Book of E...more
Praise to first time novelist Helen Forster for her sublime portrayal of this Australian suburban family. Growing up in the outskirts of Melbourne Louisa Brown and her siblings endure the daily onslaught of their father’s alcohol fueled rage. Years later, the family gathers for Emmett Brown’s funeral, reflect on their lives and the effects of the long shadow cast by their father.
The Book of Emmet arrived in my hands like a breath of fresh air. Forster’s symmetry and artistry to string ...more
The Book of Emmet arrived in my hands like a breath of fresh air. Forster’s symmetry and artistry to string ...more
Teena
added it
This book got better and better as it went on. The review on the front cover says "gently savage emotional intensity" and it's not wrong. My favourite partis about the lifting of depression on p. 217, including "And the lifting is so gradual, she barely notices but there's a day when she's leaving the house to go to work and she sees the sky and it's as if it hadn't been there all that time, as if it had run away". The author gets right into the heart of depression.
I en...more
I en...more
Elisa Kay
added it
An interesting book which tells of aq family who suffers under their tyrant father.
A psychologically insightful and often disturbing picture of that most ordinary of suburban monsters, the patriarch. I found this novel more engrossing in the second half, when the eldest daughter, Louie, became the main focus. My favourite line: 'She has given up trying to look cool for boys on the bus and now they are as distant as mountain ranges but just as appealing.'
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This is a beautifully written book with passages such as "Little questions hanging in the evening like clean washing on the line". I found the story disturbing with the reality of the cards that can be dealt with no choices and no options. It is a story of survival and at the heart is love and some hope.
Lisa
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