The Metaphysical Touchanetti

I discovered Metaphysical Touch accidently, browsing the library shelves. Although I pay attention to these things, hadn't seen it discussed or reviewed anywhere. It turns out to be one of the most extraordinary contemporary novels I've read in years. Not that it isn't flawed (the ending, in particular, reads as if Brownrigg had backed herself into a corner; and JD's "Diery" is far superior to the rest of the novel), but it is a brilliant rendering of what it means to be an intelligent person coming of age in the 90's. In short, I was astounded by this book.

My best friend and I, who live in separate states and are in touch mostly by email, read this book at the same time. We marvelled at the intelligence of the writing, and the geniune friendship between J.D. and Pi. Many of the late night questions we ponder were addressed in M. Touch. We both felt compelled to write the author a letter of thanks for such a touching (no pun) book. But we never got around to it. Hopefully, Sylvia Brownrigg will read this review! I can't wait for her next book!!!

The Metaphysical Touch should win the National Book Award. This novel's characters show us the human heart in the most authentic and affecting ways I have read since Doris Lessing, John Updike, and Jeanette Winterson. Along the way we spend time with philosophical ideas, issues of sexuality with a subltety that is all the more erotic for its nuance rather than explicitness, the intimacy of e-mail, and the way people fall in love and overcome pain. The writing is gorgeous, the story moving, so that I felt I'd been listening to Brahms. I have read this book twice - to see the beautiful layering of characters and ideas, and absorb the droll and erudite vision of our human condition. Brownrigg writes of lives worth living and connecting with a knowledge and transparency, whether of mating love, or the love of brotherhood, that John Donne would recognize. From a writer's point of view, the book has a structure as balanced and unobtrusive as a mobile made by a discreet Calder. This would also make an ideal reading group book, or book club choice, for its take on life is provocative and gentle, with a way of touching sources of pain and love in ourselves in unexpected ways. The story, from a man's point of view, and from a woman's, as well as a child's, should appeal to any reader who loves to think. Besides it was enormously fun to read.

I've read the reviews posted, and so need not rehash the plot for you yet again. I just finished this book yesterday, and wanted to weigh in on the side of the proponents of it. It's not a philosophy tract, its a novel! A novel that does cause you to stop and consider some of the philospohical questions raised by the protagonists, but it remains true to its literary purpose. The Hamlet theme is especially adroit, and I agree with the reviewer who singled out the 7 year old Martha as an especially engaging character. If you loved the movie "You've Got Mail," you'll probably NOT like this book. If you do enjoy a well-written book with realistic characters, clever dialogue and some substance between the plot lines, then do get this book. This is one of my ten best of the year, to date.

I have now read _The Metaphysical Touch_ twice. The first time I was simply stunned by the skill of the writing and the depth and reality of the characters. I laughed out loud five or six times, especially at a description of the Baltimore waterfront that moved skilfully (almost as if in a film tracking shot) towards a hysterically funny climax. The second time I read it I could appreciate some smaller details of writerly skill and magic. Most of all the characters have stayed with me over time. They seem so real and true--I wish I could meet them, and it almost seems as though I have. J.D., one of the two main characters, is a melancholy comic masterpiece. This book will bring you great joy. I can't wait to see what Brownrigg writes next.