This isn’t a new review, though it is making its Substack debut. It was originally posted to my old Goodreads profile in August 18, 2014. I hope you enjoy it.
**
I finished it last night and it's good to be done. I enjoyed it overall, but it had a lot of potential that Lamb pretty much squandered, IMO. I mean no disrespect to the author, I'm just being honest. It's all I can be. There were some themes (such as mental illness and genuine forgiveness) that felt underdeveloped and sadly lacking.
Additionally, much of the final moments were neatly wrapped up, contrived, and very much reminds me of your typical Hollywood ending. And don't get me started on Thomas's death and the fact that it serves no purpose whatsoever, except maybe Dominick's need to grieve and self-discovery. It was like everything they'd done thus far was all in vain. I suspect the author felt it wise to throw in a plot twist, and not a very convincing one at that.
Which brings me to my next point: I felt nothing for Thomas's passing. Having read roughly 3/4 of the novel and gotten a firm grasp of his character, you'd think I would have felt some form of melancholy, or sympathy at the very least, but I felt nothing. I think the phrase emotional detachment described my reaction quite well.
My most damning critique, however, revolves around Dominick and Thomas's grandfather's LONG and TEDIOUS autobiographical chapters. I mean, why is this even here? And why must Lamb torture his readers with chapter after chapter of his arrogant life views and experiences? I'm not exaggerating when I tell you this, either, but they take up approximately 200 boring pages. And the guy's been dead for 40 years!! Earnestly, I can kind of understand why they're included, but they could have been summarized in a maybe a dozen pages, with the same desired result.
I am interested in some of Lamb's other work, but reading I Know This Much Is True isn't making me particularly anxious to pick them up any time soon.
Rating: 3/5 stars