Icarus

I read this book in one sitting while waiting for an anxiety attack to abide. Me pre-book and me post-book are like sunset and sunrise. Nominally, they look the same -- my body is still going through motions of some stress -- but my outlook on what's to come and how I can deal with have changed.

As someone who treasures those "oh" moments in therapy that flood you with relief and understanding, I found a lot of those in here.

I'v learned about a few of these ideas before -- especially of inner critics -- but what I learned hadn't really stuck with me in a way that I could either 1. remember to use and 2. constructively respond to and grow from. What Cam has done is fit them to vibrant metaphors that still hold their meaning, and given solid action on how to deal with things like inner critics.

This, like any Struthless creation, leaves me with a beautiful yet fully grounded sense of hope. Thank you, Cam.

Well written, but - and this does feel weird to say - too tidy for me. Everything echoes at least once, but too soon and too often. I wonder if there's a rawness missing for me. A jaggedness. This story was too smooth that I was longing for more depth.

I saw another review say that this book felt like Backman was trying to get someone to highlight the whole book. That's not a bad way of putting it. He has great lines and insights, but for something this long, it's like the difference between eating a slice of cake after dinner and being forced to eat a whole cake in a single sitting. It's too much. And this amount of craft at length can only be done intentionally, which ends up coming off as disingenuous, strangely enough. I would have enjoyed this most if it had ended when we meet the artist.

I can't help but feel like this was rushed.