Ratings3
Average rating3.7
He was going to lose the house and everything in it.The rare pleasure of a bath, the copper pots hanging above the kitchen island, his family-again he wouldlose his family. He stood inside the house and took stock. Everything in it had been taken for granted. How had that happened again? He had promised himself not to take anything for granted and now he couldn't recall the moment that promise had given way to the everyday.Tim Farnsworth is a handsome, healthy man, aging with the grace of a matinee idol. His wife Jane still loves him, and for all its quiet trials, their marriage is still stronger than most. Despite long hours at the office, he remains passionate about his work, and his partnership at a prestigious Manhattan law firm means that the work he does is important. And, even as his daughter Becka retreats behind her guitar, her dreadlocks and her puppy fat, he offers her every one of a father's honest lies about her being the most beautiful girl in the world. He loves his wife, his family, his work, his home. He loves his kitchen. And then one day he stands up and walks out. And keeps walking.THE UNNAMED is a dazzling novel about a marriage and a family and the unseen forces of nature and desire that seem to threaten them both. It is the heartbreaking story of a life taken for granted and what happens when that life is abruptly and irrevocably taken away.
Reviews with the most likes.
A book of two halves: Regarding Henry meets Revolver - and the unanswered darker bits suggest a dash of The Devil's Advocate. The writing captivated me, but the subject matter seemed bent on repelling me. The themes I thought it was going for (how to spend a life, how ego thwarts happiness) seemed to have been abandoned for something more enigmatic by the end. Interesting experiment, but I can't say it was enjoyable.
The 2010 publishing date may partially account for the following, but I have a strong suspicion that own voices' reviews today would find fault with the discussions of mental health, and there's also a couple of references, to black people and indigenous people respectively, that at the very least feel not well thought out coming from a white author. ⚠️fatphobia, SA, body horror related to neglect of personal health/hygiene, chronic/terminal illness