Helpful Score: 2
I almost gave up on this novel about a man who can't stop walking. The protagonist is Tim Farnsworth, a well-to-do lawyer with a lovely wife and young daughter. He has an undiagnosed illness that randomly makes him walk until totally exhaustion. Often passing out from fatigue and waking in strange/undesirable places (like the time he woke up in an alley with a homeless man trying to rape him).
At first I didn't care and wasn't enthralled by the story. But about a quarter through this journey there's a scene where Tim's wife meets a handsome stranger at the grocery store (or maybe it was a liquor store?), it really has no bearing on the rest of the story but it's the point where Ferris grabbed my attention and the story began to matter.
After that things got edgier, sexier and sadder. Tim's illness kicked into high gear and took a toll on him mentally and physically while his wife developed problems of her own. Essentially the once happy and loving family is torn apart by the unnamed illness and brought together by an unrelenting love.
I liked that Ferris kept me guessing through the latter part of the book, yet I was torn between thinking his prose was pretentious and thinking it was amazing. Finding the story intriguing yet somewhat cumbersome. It's a mixed bag but one that might be worth staying with until the end.
At first I didn't care and wasn't enthralled by the story. But about a quarter through this journey there's a scene where Tim's wife meets a handsome stranger at the grocery store (or maybe it was a liquor store?), it really has no bearing on the rest of the story but it's the point where Ferris grabbed my attention and the story began to matter.
After that things got edgier, sexier and sadder. Tim's illness kicked into high gear and took a toll on him mentally and physically while his wife developed problems of her own. Essentially the once happy and loving family is torn apart by the unnamed illness and brought together by an unrelenting love.
I liked that Ferris kept me guessing through the latter part of the book, yet I was torn between thinking his prose was pretentious and thinking it was amazing. Finding the story intriguing yet somewhat cumbersome. It's a mixed bag but one that might be worth staying with until the end.
Helpful Score: 1
Tim Farnsworth has a rare and unnamed disease. In the opening pages of Joshua Ferris's newest novel, Tim reveals that "it's back." It seems that they, his wife and daughter, have gone through two previous episodes of this life-altering disease. Now, they are about to start their third one.
Tim has a disease that causes him to walk, and walk, and walk until he is emotionally and physically exhausted. His disease takes him across many states and many climates, often times resulting in harm to his body. When he comes back to himself, he calls his wife Jane to come get him. It's a shocking and devastating disease.
His family is left behind when Tim leaves, never knowing where he is going, or if that will be the last time they see him. Will he come back dead or alive? Tim, while he walks, is always trying to get control of his body and his mind sometimes gets confused. For a successful and well-to-do lawyer, his disease risks everything. With the disease back, Tim cannot work, and they may lose their house and more.
The Unnamed is a heartbreaking story, yet it shows the strength of the human mind and body. What lengths will one go to to protect those they love? The story, ultimately, was a little longer than it needed to be to get the point across. There are only just so many walks before it becomes annoying to this reader. But I did enjoy the novel and the unique perspective and storyline.
Tim has a disease that causes him to walk, and walk, and walk until he is emotionally and physically exhausted. His disease takes him across many states and many climates, often times resulting in harm to his body. When he comes back to himself, he calls his wife Jane to come get him. It's a shocking and devastating disease.
His family is left behind when Tim leaves, never knowing where he is going, or if that will be the last time they see him. Will he come back dead or alive? Tim, while he walks, is always trying to get control of his body and his mind sometimes gets confused. For a successful and well-to-do lawyer, his disease risks everything. With the disease back, Tim cannot work, and they may lose their house and more.
The Unnamed is a heartbreaking story, yet it shows the strength of the human mind and body. What lengths will one go to to protect those they love? The story, ultimately, was a little longer than it needed to be to get the point across. There are only just so many walks before it becomes annoying to this reader. But I did enjoy the novel and the unique perspective and storyline.
Similar in its dark humor to Ferris' first novel "Then We Came to the End," but with characters that are more fully developed. I find Ferris' style very readable and his characters very relatable. The book starts out great, but slows down about 2/3 through and I found it hard to finish.
I started this book because there were so many people talking about it, raving about it...but frankly, I was bored to death. I didn't even finish it because I didn't care what happened to him or his wife. The only person I found remotely interesting was the daughter but not enough to see what happened to her.
I didn't get very far in this at all--it just didn't grab me from the first page and it couldn't hold my interest for 6 pages so I quit! and you might find that odd but I have certain criteria that a book must have and this didn't have it
