My Review of Cleaver by Tim Parks

Cleaver by Tim Parks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a challenging book because it's written in stream of consciousness style, which might be off-putting to some. However, I found that aspect amusing because Cleaver's over-active squirrel brain reminds me of my own, leaping from subject to subject, as I find myself standing on the patio deep in thought about Barack Obama with a phone book in one hand and a pressure gauge in the other.

But the story is a good one wherein a decent man is played and manipulated throughout his life - although he does a fair bit of the same, achieving great heights of celebrity and accomplishment. But at about age 60 (sorry, can't remember specifically), grief-stricken and at the end of his rope, he takes his overweight and out of shape body and his tech-addicted, co-dependent mind off on a crazy quest to find some kind of peace and independence, some place in the world where he can either end it all or find himself.

He rents a very rustic cabin on the edge of the wilderness where he doesn't speak the language of the locals and thus is misunderstood, mistrusted, and insulated from humanity until the end of the book. (One of the interesting aspects of the story is the immersion in rural German culture.) Cleaver is also completely unprepared for the harshness of the winter in this mountain setting and almost dies as a result. The story is resolved when he demonstrates his core decency, stands up for himself, feels he is of value, and rejects the manipulating nastiness of those who should love him - his family. In a sense, he finds a new family in a very different place.

I could only give this book 4 stars because there were a couple of errors of logic in it which revealed a need for a bit more editing - and the book is confusing enough with its switches between tense and point of view - but I frankly couldn't put it down, and I still, ten days later, think of the protagonist as a real person. I'm glad I read it, and I heartily recommend it, but it's a challenging read. Bottom line: if you're middle-aged and you're interested in seeing a character bust loose from convention and finally, at midlife, find his own way, this is a fantastic story.





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