Review of 'Excuse me, My Brains Have Stepped Out', by Pandora Poikilos

This book, described andpromoted as 'Women's Fiction', reads like a memoir. This, together withinformation given me in a blog interview with the author (use the link if youwish to read it: http://stuartaken.blogspot.com/2011/08/author-interview-with-pandora-poikilos.html), leads me to believe it's a fictionalisedaccount of real events. It's not uncommon, of course, for writers to presenttheir life stories as fiction and, as often as not, it's done to protect thosethey grew up with. All that said, this novel reads like a life story.It's presented largelyas a series of letters to the narrator's father. These include hints at a pastwe never fully learn but which clearly contains distressing events. The lettersalso include passages of opinion on various aspects of humanity, relationshipsand life in general. It's an interesting device and, for the most part, workswell in the context of the book. There were times, however, when I found theauthorial voice a little intrusive and sometimes tiresome. There are editing deficienciesin the text, which is unfortunately peppered with instances of tense change andother grammatical errors. This should have rendered the book unreadable for me,since I find such presentation very irritating, believing that writers shouldlearn the rules before going on to break them. It's testament to the quality ofthe content that the faults didn't stop me reading to the end. The emotional journey wetake with the narrator is profound, disturbing, difficult and, uplifting. Thisisn't a story full of action; there's no apparent sequence of events and noplot. This is an exposition of the very significant barriers and obstructionsto normal life faced by an individual suffering from Intracranial Hypertension;a rare brain condition. Had the author merely set out what had happened toAnya, the subject of the story, it would've probably resulted in a turgid text.But her presentation of events through intimate and touching letters to Anya'sfather, in spite of occasional passages where she tells him things he alreadyknows, renders the tale into a moving and easily digested account.Anya complains aboutthose who say they 'understand' her situation, suggesting that suchunderstanding can be achieved only through similar suffering. I 'understand'her view on that topic. But feel I have some, albeit small, understanding ofaspects of her condition and her fight to achieve normality. Having sufferedME/CFS for eight years (now recovered), I know how limiting certain conditionscan be and I commend her efforts, courage and sheer determination in completingwhat must have been a very demanding undertaking.This is a book that somewill find difficult, some won't finish, but which cannot fail to move those whotake the trouble to accompany Anya on her journey, against seemingly impossibleodds, toward a destination that will leave them in a better place than theystarted. Uplifting and inspiring.
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