Carry Me Down

Did you ever read one of those books where the writing is incredible, rich and diverse with vivid descriptions; only to realize when quite a ways in that you have no idea what the point is??? This book was short-listed for the Booker Prize, and I had read a previous book by this author. But reading this book was like having salad for dinner: you realize that you are not full and crave more sustenance? This is a page about 1/3 of the way through the addresses a question of the main character being gay; but it is never brought up again and the rest of the book is throw-away. Disappointing.

I purchased this book on a whim and couldn't be happier that I did. This is an absolutely wonderful book. The character of John Egen seemed very real to me and I felt for him. I found the writing to be wonderful and the story flowed flawlessly. I read another review in which the reviewer wondered why more was not done with the gang threat that John receives. A typical book would have taken this "plot point" and made this the story. This is not a typical book. I highly recommend CARRY ME DOWN and will definitely check out the authors other books.

Eleven-year-old John Egan is tall and deep-voiced for his age, straightaway making other people -- his parents, his teachers, a doctor --think he needs help, that he should feel out of place. But he's out of place in ways that have more to do with his family's financial circumstances than his physique. Certain -- delusorily so -- that he can do something so great he will one day be mentioned in the Guiness Book of World Records, John figures out that his great talent is detecting lies: his ears grow hot, other physical things happen, he just knows what's true and what's not. Carry Me Down is sad but charming, and because John is so loveable and fascinating, I enjoyed this book tremendously. At times it was funny. Once or twice I cried. Highly recommended.

In M. J. Hyland's latest novel a boy whose large size already casts him as being different, strives to set himself apart officially, by making it into his favorite book, the Guiness Book of World Records. John Egan believes he can do this by being the world's only human lie-detector. In the background, his family struggles with his father's choice to pursue his dream rather than keep a steady job and John suffers humiliation from his peers after he wets himself in class. Hyland's writing is clear and lovely; her characters, unforgettable and charming.

Carry Me Down leaves you with a lump in the throat after you've closed the cover. It's such an authentic portrait of what it is to be a lonely adolescent who's an awkward misfit, though thankfully not every lonely adolescent tries to smother his mother. The focus of this book is on the brutality of childhood, as well as the huge impact parents play in forming the psyches of their children. Though not an abused child per se, John Egan is raised by somewhat unstable parents who don't always provide him with the emotional and financial stability he so desperately needs. He becomes a compulsive liar who's convinced he has a preternatural ability to detect lies in others, and as such he's somewhat an unreliable narrator. The reader can read between the lines and get a good general idea of the truth, by knowing the reactions of the other characters, so the occasional delusions of John are easily seen through. He is a liar, but not a sophisticated one. There's a lot of innocence in him, through it all, and this is what gets our sympathy. He's a child who needs a lot of love and who gets precious little, and that's what breaks the reader's heart more than anything. After finishing this book last evening I cannot get it out of my head. It's dark and sometimes depressing, but in the end redemptive. No wonder the Booker committee chose it. It illustrates a very good instinct for picking out another up-and-comer to watch. I expect Hyland may not have the visibility to actually win the prize, but this is one of the most heart-rending books I've read in a while, and it definitely deserves making the Longlist. It's so worth making the effort to fit this one into your reading schedule.

This is one of the best books I've read in the last year. The book aroused a sympathy for the characters, especially John and his mother, that was physically painful. Images from the book kept coming back to me for weeks after I finished.