Before I Go To Sleep: PERFECT!
my kind of book!
What better way to start the year than with a new book, right? And I'm glad I started it with S.J. Watson's Before I Go To Sleep.
Ok fine, its not exactly perfect, that's an exaggeration but something that I love and would recommend nonetheless.
Before I Go To Sleep is the story of Christine, an amnesiac who is unable to retain any memory of her past when she goes to bed. Think 50 First Dates but darker and grimmer..
So what happens when you dont remember anything? I've always believed that memory defines us, its what who and what we are. What life is there for someone who cant remember?
The story starts with Christine in bed, she wakes up and is unsure of where she is. She turns to her side and sees a man sleeping, a wedding band in his finger. "Great," she thinks, not only is she unable to recall anything that has happened last night, she's even managed to sleep with a married man. Desperate to make an escape without waking the stranger (and having to explain why she doesnt remember anything) she tiptoes to the bathroom to freshen up then quietly leave.
Here is where Christine's nightmare begins.
What she sees in the mirror is an old lady, with lines in her face, grey in her hair. On her finger is a smaller version of the wedding band she saw earlier with the stranger. What is going on? Who is this woman staring back at her?
The book is a-ma-zing! At some point I couldnt even tell who the bad guy is. Is it Dr. Nash or her husband Ben? Is she really just confabulating (something I learned from the book)? What if the entries in her journal are just the result of her past life as a writer?
Amazing! Truly a page turner! Couldnt tell who was who until the end! It's like Detective Conan in paper! Struggling to outrun the ending by guessing who the real bad guy is!
But really what won me over is the ending. This is the kind of ending I positively adore!
The book ends as Christine is reunited with her loved ones. In the hospital, she is weak and tired, she has just fought off the bad guy. It is late and she can't fight off sleep, soon she will give in to it and she's not certain if she can remember everything in the morning.
This is the kind of ending that I love. It is happy because the good guy wins, the bad guy gets caught but there's still a hanging conflict. Will she remember? Wont she? What will happen if she does? If she doesnt?
Read it! 30 dirhams is definitely worth it!
Ok fine, its not exactly perfect, that's an exaggeration but something that I love and would recommend nonetheless.
Before I Go To Sleep is the story of Christine, an amnesiac who is unable to retain any memory of her past when she goes to bed. Think 50 First Dates but darker and grimmer..
So what happens when you dont remember anything? I've always believed that memory defines us, its what who and what we are. What life is there for someone who cant remember?
The story starts with Christine in bed, she wakes up and is unsure of where she is. She turns to her side and sees a man sleeping, a wedding band in his finger. "Great," she thinks, not only is she unable to recall anything that has happened last night, she's even managed to sleep with a married man. Desperate to make an escape without waking the stranger (and having to explain why she doesnt remember anything) she tiptoes to the bathroom to freshen up then quietly leave.
Here is where Christine's nightmare begins.
What she sees in the mirror is an old lady, with lines in her face, grey in her hair. On her finger is a smaller version of the wedding band she saw earlier with the stranger. What is going on? Who is this woman staring back at her?
The book is a-ma-zing! At some point I couldnt even tell who the bad guy is. Is it Dr. Nash or her husband Ben? Is she really just confabulating (something I learned from the book)? What if the entries in her journal are just the result of her past life as a writer?
Amazing! Truly a page turner! Couldnt tell who was who until the end! It's like Detective Conan in paper! Struggling to outrun the ending by guessing who the real bad guy is!
But really what won me over is the ending. This is the kind of ending I positively adore!
The book ends as Christine is reunited with her loved ones. In the hospital, she is weak and tired, she has just fought off the bad guy. It is late and she can't fight off sleep, soon she will give in to it and she's not certain if she can remember everything in the morning.
This is the kind of ending that I love. It is happy because the good guy wins, the bad guy gets caught but there's still a hanging conflict. Will she remember? Wont she? What will happen if she does? If she doesnt?
Read it! 30 dirhams is definitely worth it!
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