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The Dead Fathers Club
The story of Hamlet is not usually thought of as one meant for laughter. But Matt Haig's able retelling of the tale in The Dead Fathers Club will make you laugh, though it might also evoke a tear. Eleven-year-old Philip Noble is at his father's funeral when who should appear but his father's ghost, who wastes no time in telling Philip that his Uncle Alan, an auto mechanic, tampered with his car, causing the accident that killed him. He warns Philip that Uncle Alan will shortly be tampering with his mother too, because Unctuous Uncle Alan wants the pub that Philip's father owned.
The solution to this problem, according to Philip's dad, is that he must kill Uncle Alan. If he doesn't do it before Dad's next birthday, 11 weeks away, Dad will be consigned to the Terrors for all eternity. Philip agrees, in principle, but killing someone, especially without getting caught, isn't easy. But a promise is a promise, so Philip gives it a whirl, in fact, several whirls. Real life interferes in the persons of two school bullies, truly nasty and perverse thugs, who seem ready to kill Philip because they think it's funny that his father died. Philip also falls in love, and his Ophelia (named Leah) thinks that shoplifting is tons of fun. Poor Philip is in over his head in every way possible. There are many encounters with other Dead Fathers in a great sendup of ghostly dealings, Hamlet-like, on the moors, and several sly references to the play. There is even a character named Dane. The ending is not pure Shakespeare, but it is pure Haig and that is very good indeed. --Valerie Ryan
328 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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About the author
Matt Haig
65 books48.9k followersMatt Haig is the author of novels such as The Midnight Library, How to Stop Time, The Humans, The Radleys, and the forthcoming The Life Impossible. He has also written books for children, such as A Boy Called Christmas, and the memoir Reasons to Stay Alive.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,279 reviews
September 17, 2016
The conversation I would love to have with Matt Haig, author of The Dead Fathers Club.* We would be sitting in a small diner drinking our hot beverage of choice.
So I said “Hey.”
And He said “Hey, you wanted to talk.”
And I said “I just finished your book The Dead Fathers Club.
And He said “What did you think?”
And I said “I was a little underwhelmed.”
And He said “Why.”
And I said “The Dialogue was a little clunky.”
And He said “In what way?”
And I said “This style is tortuous to listen to and read.”
And He said “You know it was a YA adult book?”
And I said “Your point?”
And He said “This is how kids talk.”
And I said “Don’t know.”
And He said “Your right, you don’t know.”
And I said “But it’s so choppy.”
And he said “How many books have you written?”
And I said “Are you mad at me?”
And He said “A little.”
And I said “Why?”
And He said “Do you know how hard it is it write dialogue?”
And I said “No.”
And the waitress said “Would you folks like a refill?”
And I said “No.”
And He said “No.”
And the waitress said “Well, Ok. I’ll just leave the check.”
And He said “Thanks.”
And I Said “Thanks.”
And He said “Any more critiques, Ms. Smarty-pants?”
And I said “I did love your story.”
And He said “Oh really?”
And I said “Yes, just not the dialogue.”
And He said “Well Ok.”
And I said “I’m even going to read the only other book my library has.”
And he said “Oh, What one?”
And I said “The Radleys. Will I like it?”
And He said “Don’t know.”
*I of course have never met or spoke to Mr. Haig. I have no idea if this is an accurate portrayal of his as a person. Just saying.
So I said “Hey.”
And He said “Hey, you wanted to talk.”
And I said “I just finished your book The Dead Fathers Club.
And He said “What did you think?”
And I said “I was a little underwhelmed.”
And He said “Why.”
And I said “The Dialogue was a little clunky.”
And He said “In what way?”
And I said “This style is tortuous to listen to and read.”
And He said “You know it was a YA adult book?”
And I said “Your point?”
And He said “This is how kids talk.”
And I said “Don’t know.”
And He said “Your right, you don’t know.”
And I said “But it’s so choppy.”
And he said “How many books have you written?”
And I said “Are you mad at me?”
And He said “A little.”
And I said “Why?”
And He said “Do you know how hard it is it write dialogue?”
And I said “No.”
And the waitress said “Would you folks like a refill?”
And I said “No.”
And He said “No.”
And the waitress said “Well, Ok. I’ll just leave the check.”
And He said “Thanks.”
And I Said “Thanks.”
And He said “Any more critiques, Ms. Smarty-pants?”
And I said “I did love your story.”
And He said “Oh really?”
And I said “Yes, just not the dialogue.”
And He said “Well Ok.”
And I said “I’m even going to read the only other book my library has.”
And he said “Oh, What one?”
And I said “The Radleys. Will I like it?”
And He said “Don’t know.”
*I of course have never met or spoke to Mr. Haig. I have no idea if this is an accurate portrayal of his as a person. Just saying.
June 1, 2020
I downloaded an audiobook version of this modern reworking of Hamlet, before subsequently reading that the book may have been intended for a “young adult” readership. If that’s the case, then at 58 I am definitely the wrong target audience! In one way my age does make a difference. I last did Hamlet at school 40 years ago and can only vaguely remember it. I suppose my reaction might have been different had I read it within the last few years.
Resetting Hamlet to the modern era comes with one big challenge – the story. I mean, in the original Hamlet, young man’s father dies; ghost of said father appears to young man and tells him he has been murdered by his brother - the boy’s uncle; boy’s uncle starts a relationship with boy’s mother; ghost tells young man to murder his uncle; young man accidentally kills others in trying to do so. It all works within the context of dynastic rivalry in 16th century Denmark, but try to reset that to the modern day UK and well, it’s all a bit bonkers. Incidentally if you feel I’ve given away spoilers, I can say that Matt Haig doesn’t stick entirely to the Hamlet story.
Wisely I think, the author sustains the bizarre events by throwing in a fair bit of humour across much of the story. The protagonist, Philip Noble, is a few years younger than the Hamlet of the original tale, allowing the author to present the story through the eyes of a confused child. However, the mood can’t be maintained in the last quarter, when things get a lot darker and there is a distinct tension with the earlier section of the book. Actually at this point I wondered whether I was going to write a review saying the book hadn’t succeeded for me, but it was saved by its ending, which gives the reader something to think about.
I think this is one I would have preferred to have read rather than have listened to. There are sections where Philip says the same words repetitively. That’s something young children do, and it would be OK to read, but on audio it can become irritating.
Resetting Hamlet to the modern era comes with one big challenge – the story. I mean, in the original Hamlet, young man’s father dies; ghost of said father appears to young man and tells him he has been murdered by his brother - the boy’s uncle; boy’s uncle starts a relationship with boy’s mother; ghost tells young man to murder his uncle; young man accidentally kills others in trying to do so. It all works within the context of dynastic rivalry in 16th century Denmark, but try to reset that to the modern day UK and well, it’s all a bit bonkers. Incidentally if you feel I’ve given away spoilers, I can say that Matt Haig doesn’t stick entirely to the Hamlet story.
Wisely I think, the author sustains the bizarre events by throwing in a fair bit of humour across much of the story. The protagonist, Philip Noble, is a few years younger than the Hamlet of the original tale, allowing the author to present the story through the eyes of a confused child. However, the mood can’t be maintained in the last quarter, when things get a lot darker and there is a distinct tension with the earlier section of the book. Actually at this point I wondered whether I was going to write a review saying the book hadn’t succeeded for me, but it was saved by its ending, which gives the reader something to think about.
I think this is one I would have preferred to have read rather than have listened to. There are sections where Philip says the same words repetitively. That’s something young children do, and it would be OK to read, but on audio it can become irritating.
May 26, 2018
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
A Hamlet retelling with a very fresh, thought-provoking perspective.
Okay, I'll admit - when I started reading this book, I initially released an internal groan. Not another Shakesepeare interpretation, I thought! What more can be said about Hamlet - the play that's been covered literally hundreds of times in previous works?
Well, as Matt Haig proves, there is a new angle to explore, and he explores it with real panache.
Phillip's Dad, a former pub landlord, has recently died in a car-crash. Except (like Hamlet's father), he's refusing to die quietly. Instead, he starts haunting Phillip, telling him that he's part of the 'dead father's club' - men who have been murdered and who are seeking vengeance.
Meanwhile, Phillip's mother is shacked up with Uncle Alan, who (you guessed it) is the one Phillip's dad claimed killed him. Phillip is in a whirl. He knows he must kill the man who murdered his father - the only question (to begin with) is how?
His girlfriend Leah is the only one who doesn't think he's a weirdo - until, of course, Phillip does something unspeakable to her father. What follows next is a potential recipe for tragedy - though with a rather different ending to the Shakespearean text (I won't give it away).
So here's what I LOVED about this book. We all know that Hamlet was the king of indecision, and that he may or may not have been mad. However, his state of mind is always a mystery, due to the perspective of the play. (The soliloquies, in my opinion, only reveal so much).
With Phillip, it's explored in much more detail - grief, resentment, inability to act, the sense of isolation - it's all there, in gloriously modern terms. What's also utterly magnificent is the possibility that the father's ghost doesn't exist at all - and that Phillip is suffering some sort of mental breakdown after losing a loved one. This puts a totally fresh spin on things, which I thought was really clever. It made me start wondering - what if that was the case in the original Hamlet? What if Claudius was actually totally innocent? Thought provoking stuff!
As with a lot of Matt Haig's writing, he manages to lay bare human emotion, and put it into relateable sentences.
My only minor niggle was that there were parts where I felt the boy's voice was a little 'young' for Year 7 (this is probably the ex-secondary school teacher in me, remembering what they're like at that age). However, this only jarred very slightly on occasion, and didn't bother me particularly. It's bloody hard writing from the perspective of a child, especially when covering high-impact, emotive issues!
I'd really recommend it - especially if you like the author's other books. A very good read indeed.
A Hamlet retelling with a very fresh, thought-provoking perspective.
Okay, I'll admit - when I started reading this book, I initially released an internal groan. Not another Shakesepeare interpretation, I thought! What more can be said about Hamlet - the play that's been covered literally hundreds of times in previous works?
Well, as Matt Haig proves, there is a new angle to explore, and he explores it with real panache.
Phillip's Dad, a former pub landlord, has recently died in a car-crash. Except (like Hamlet's father), he's refusing to die quietly. Instead, he starts haunting Phillip, telling him that he's part of the 'dead father's club' - men who have been murdered and who are seeking vengeance.
Meanwhile, Phillip's mother is shacked up with Uncle Alan, who (you guessed it) is the one Phillip's dad claimed killed him. Phillip is in a whirl. He knows he must kill the man who murdered his father - the only question (to begin with) is how?
His girlfriend Leah is the only one who doesn't think he's a weirdo - until, of course, Phillip does something unspeakable to her father. What follows next is a potential recipe for tragedy - though with a rather different ending to the Shakespearean text (I won't give it away).
So here's what I LOVED about this book. We all know that Hamlet was the king of indecision, and that he may or may not have been mad. However, his state of mind is always a mystery, due to the perspective of the play. (The soliloquies, in my opinion, only reveal so much).
With Phillip, it's explored in much more detail - grief, resentment, inability to act, the sense of isolation - it's all there, in gloriously modern terms. What's also utterly magnificent is the possibility that the father's ghost doesn't exist at all - and that Phillip is suffering some sort of mental breakdown after losing a loved one. This puts a totally fresh spin on things, which I thought was really clever. It made me start wondering - what if that was the case in the original Hamlet? What if Claudius was actually totally innocent? Thought provoking stuff!
As with a lot of Matt Haig's writing, he manages to lay bare human emotion, and put it into relateable sentences.
My only minor niggle was that there were parts where I felt the boy's voice was a little 'young' for Year 7 (this is probably the ex-secondary school teacher in me, remembering what they're like at that age). However, this only jarred very slightly on occasion, and didn't bother me particularly. It's bloody hard writing from the perspective of a child, especially when covering high-impact, emotive issues!
I'd really recommend it - especially if you like the author's other books. A very good read indeed.
October 26, 2014
When it comes to religion I am, at best, apathetic.
I’ve never been much of a believer, although I’ve backed off on my staunch identification as an atheist – realizing eventually that that group’s smug certainty that there is no God is every bit as obnoxious as the holy rollers who proselytize and damn others to hell. I suppose that technically makes me an agnostic, but I think the most accurate description of my religious belief is “I don’t care.” I try to lead a good life, be kind to others, do more good than harm, etc., etc., and hope that, should there be an afterlife, that’ll be enough to stand me in good stead with the management.
The most fervently I’ve wanted to believe in an afterlife, though, came in 2011 after my mom died. Unlike her heathen son, my mom was a devout churchgoer – she and my dad were (and are, in my dad’s case) active in their local Episcopal church, and I knew that her religious faith is something that got her through those last difficult weeks. I wanted there to be an afterlife for her, but also for all the usual selfish reasons following the death of a loved one; chiefly, that I’d get to see her again one day. I can’t say I’ve clung to that desire with any tenacity, though. Three years on and I’m pretty much back where I started.
Matt Haig’s The Dead Fathers Club takes up the question of the afterlife in the form of a ghost story that, fittingly for a novel preoccupied with limbo or purgatory (I can never remember which is which), straddles the line between adult and Young Adult fiction. It exists in an uneasy middle ground that has – I think – more in common with the former than the latter, but which might be a little too sophisticated and bleak for younger readers.
Its closest comparison is probably something like Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a book written for adults but which I know is taught in some high schools. Like that book, The Dead Fathers club features a young narrator – 11-year-old Philip – who is precocious and insightful, but who probably lies somewhere on the autism spectrum. His narration is often an unfiltered stream-of-conscious jumble of sights, sounds, and impressions, such as this passage that comes early in the book when his mother receives news of his father’s death:
And then they went into the office and shut the door and I could hear nothing for ages and then I heard Mum. She was howling like a WOLF and the noise hurt my stomach and I closed my eyes to try and hear the policeman and all he was saying was Im sorry and he kept on saying it
Im sorry
Im sorry
Im sorry
and I knew that he hadnt done anything wrong because he was a policeman and policemen only say sorry if something very bad has happened. So I knew right then what the pain in my stomach was. And I saw the policeman leave and the hat was in his hand but not on his chest any more like the Bad News had been in there and set free. And I saw Mum and she saw me but didnt see me properly and she went to the corner of the hall by the radiator and sat down in a ball and cried and shook her head in her hands and said No no no no no and everywhere round us looked the same but bigger and I wanted to go and tell her it was OK but that would have been a lie and so I just sat there and did nothing.
It’s shortly after this that the ghost of Philip’s father comes to him and says that his brother, Alan, murdered him by severing the brakes on his car. Along with this news, a few other things:
1) Not everyone can see ghosts, but if you do, they are the spirits of the murdered.
2) You have to avenge their death before their next birthday.
3) If you fail to do that, the ghost will remain an unsettled spirit forever.
Philip – who has enough trouble just getting through the school day – now has only a months to figure out how to kill his uncle and set his father’s spirit free. It’s convenient, though, that there’s a bit of a Hamlet situation going on, as Alan, who clearly has designs on Philip’s mother, moves into their home and tries to take over as Surrogate Dad.
For a character who engages in as much internal monologuing as Philip, there’s initially very little ambivalence over his mission. There’s no moralizing about whether it’s right to take Alan’s life, but maybe that makes sense. Life is simpler at 11: Philip loved his father, his father’s ghost says Alan must die, and so Alan must die. The problem, though, is that his father’s ghost – who at first appears to be omniscient and gifted with preternatural awareness – makes an increasing number of inaccurate predictions, some of which have disastrous consequences. And this brings Philip to a crossroads: Is his father an tortured spirit or just a spiteful douchebag? And if it’s the latter, is his death still worth avenging?
While I enjoyed Haig’s spin on the revenge tale, I actually found the most appealing part of the book to be Philip’s voice, especially the way he attempts to come to grip with the world around him. There are several gems throughout the book that might not be particularly insightful to adults, but which seem to perfectly capture the child’s evolving understanding of how the world works.
On his teacher trying to involve him with his peers by making him dance at a party: “Mrs Fell was only being nice because she thought I was on my own but sometimes being nice is as bad as being horrible.”
On the paradox of war and murder: “Its like how in War soldiers are told to kill other men and then they are Heroes but if they killed the same men when they were not in War they are Murderers. But they are still killing the same men who have the same dreams and who chew the same food and hum the same songs when they are happy but if it is called War it is all right because that is the rules of War.”
And this one especially, on, well, the nature of life itself: “I was thinking Mrs Fell was right. There are choices. You can listen to ghosts or you can not listen to ghosts and you can think what you want to think it is up to you because there are only two things that are true 100 out of 100 times and that is that you live and also that you die and every other thing is not true or false it is a mix. It is both. It is none.”
Philip’s voice is so strong and so engaging that it carries the reader through the book, even in those moments when the revenge plot is less interesting. The real surprise is the end, which is, in the immortal words of Spinal Tap, none more black. It ends on a decidedly dark note, one that unambiguously puts Philip at the center of everything bad that ultimately happens. It’s a curious – and curiously harsh – choice, and it’s probably the strongest argument that Haig hasn’t intended this to be a children’s book. Young Adult Lit typically ends optimistically – the young protagonist having overcome whatever challenges he/she faced to emerge victorious on the other side – but there’s no light at the end of the tunnel in the closing pages of The Dead Fathers Club. If there’s a bleak central thesis implied by the conclusion it’s that, on Earth or in the afterlife, there’s no way out for tortured spirits.
More reviews at goldstarforrobotboy.net
I’ve never been much of a believer, although I’ve backed off on my staunch identification as an atheist – realizing eventually that that group’s smug certainty that there is no God is every bit as obnoxious as the holy rollers who proselytize and damn others to hell. I suppose that technically makes me an agnostic, but I think the most accurate description of my religious belief is “I don’t care.” I try to lead a good life, be kind to others, do more good than harm, etc., etc., and hope that, should there be an afterlife, that’ll be enough to stand me in good stead with the management.
The most fervently I’ve wanted to believe in an afterlife, though, came in 2011 after my mom died. Unlike her heathen son, my mom was a devout churchgoer – she and my dad were (and are, in my dad’s case) active in their local Episcopal church, and I knew that her religious faith is something that got her through those last difficult weeks. I wanted there to be an afterlife for her, but also for all the usual selfish reasons following the death of a loved one; chiefly, that I’d get to see her again one day. I can’t say I’ve clung to that desire with any tenacity, though. Three years on and I’m pretty much back where I started.
Matt Haig’s The Dead Fathers Club takes up the question of the afterlife in the form of a ghost story that, fittingly for a novel preoccupied with limbo or purgatory (I can never remember which is which), straddles the line between adult and Young Adult fiction. It exists in an uneasy middle ground that has – I think – more in common with the former than the latter, but which might be a little too sophisticated and bleak for younger readers.
Its closest comparison is probably something like Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a book written for adults but which I know is taught in some high schools. Like that book, The Dead Fathers club features a young narrator – 11-year-old Philip – who is precocious and insightful, but who probably lies somewhere on the autism spectrum. His narration is often an unfiltered stream-of-conscious jumble of sights, sounds, and impressions, such as this passage that comes early in the book when his mother receives news of his father’s death:
And then they went into the office and shut the door and I could hear nothing for ages and then I heard Mum. She was howling like a WOLF and the noise hurt my stomach and I closed my eyes to try and hear the policeman and all he was saying was Im sorry and he kept on saying it
Im sorry
Im sorry
Im sorry
and I knew that he hadnt done anything wrong because he was a policeman and policemen only say sorry if something very bad has happened. So I knew right then what the pain in my stomach was. And I saw the policeman leave and the hat was in his hand but not on his chest any more like the Bad News had been in there and set free. And I saw Mum and she saw me but didnt see me properly and she went to the corner of the hall by the radiator and sat down in a ball and cried and shook her head in her hands and said No no no no no and everywhere round us looked the same but bigger and I wanted to go and tell her it was OK but that would have been a lie and so I just sat there and did nothing.
It’s shortly after this that the ghost of Philip’s father comes to him and says that his brother, Alan, murdered him by severing the brakes on his car. Along with this news, a few other things:
1) Not everyone can see ghosts, but if you do, they are the spirits of the murdered.
2) You have to avenge their death before their next birthday.
3) If you fail to do that, the ghost will remain an unsettled spirit forever.
Philip – who has enough trouble just getting through the school day – now has only a months to figure out how to kill his uncle and set his father’s spirit free. It’s convenient, though, that there’s a bit of a Hamlet situation going on, as Alan, who clearly has designs on Philip’s mother, moves into their home and tries to take over as Surrogate Dad.
For a character who engages in as much internal monologuing as Philip, there’s initially very little ambivalence over his mission. There’s no moralizing about whether it’s right to take Alan’s life, but maybe that makes sense. Life is simpler at 11: Philip loved his father, his father’s ghost says Alan must die, and so Alan must die. The problem, though, is that his father’s ghost – who at first appears to be omniscient and gifted with preternatural awareness – makes an increasing number of inaccurate predictions, some of which have disastrous consequences. And this brings Philip to a crossroads: Is his father an tortured spirit or just a spiteful douchebag? And if it’s the latter, is his death still worth avenging?
While I enjoyed Haig’s spin on the revenge tale, I actually found the most appealing part of the book to be Philip’s voice, especially the way he attempts to come to grip with the world around him. There are several gems throughout the book that might not be particularly insightful to adults, but which seem to perfectly capture the child’s evolving understanding of how the world works.
On his teacher trying to involve him with his peers by making him dance at a party: “Mrs Fell was only being nice because she thought I was on my own but sometimes being nice is as bad as being horrible.”
On the paradox of war and murder: “Its like how in War soldiers are told to kill other men and then they are Heroes but if they killed the same men when they were not in War they are Murderers. But they are still killing the same men who have the same dreams and who chew the same food and hum the same songs when they are happy but if it is called War it is all right because that is the rules of War.”
And this one especially, on, well, the nature of life itself: “I was thinking Mrs Fell was right. There are choices. You can listen to ghosts or you can not listen to ghosts and you can think what you want to think it is up to you because there are only two things that are true 100 out of 100 times and that is that you live and also that you die and every other thing is not true or false it is a mix. It is both. It is none.”
Philip’s voice is so strong and so engaging that it carries the reader through the book, even in those moments when the revenge plot is less interesting. The real surprise is the end, which is, in the immortal words of Spinal Tap, none more black. It ends on a decidedly dark note, one that unambiguously puts Philip at the center of everything bad that ultimately happens. It’s a curious – and curiously harsh – choice, and it’s probably the strongest argument that Haig hasn’t intended this to be a children’s book. Young Adult Lit typically ends optimistically – the young protagonist having overcome whatever challenges he/she faced to emerge victorious on the other side – but there’s no light at the end of the tunnel in the closing pages of The Dead Fathers Club. If there’s a bleak central thesis implied by the conclusion it’s that, on Earth or in the afterlife, there’s no way out for tortured spirits.
More reviews at goldstarforrobotboy.net
October 12, 2022
After his dads death, Philip sees ghosts. His dead fathers ghosts comes to him and tells him to solve his murder (even tho his death was declared an accident). The rest is an interesting tale of a boy being mislead by his dead father, his mom having a relationship with his dead fathers brother and how people cope with death and moving on. Quirky and awkward throughout and an overall worthy read!
July 2, 2008
An update on the Hamlet story, this reads much like "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime" (I think that's right) with a yound narrator set to avenge his father's death at the hands of his uncle. And while that voice worked well for the autistic narrator of "Nightime" at times I felt this kid was really stupid for an 11 year old. Perhaps my standards are too high for preteens or perhaps he was just overwhlemed with grief, but that's not my point. Except it might be my point, because I think his stupidity was one of the things keeping me from truly embracing this story. And you might argue that was part of the point, that death and the real world is very confusing for kids, but I digress.
Haig has several clever ways to incorporate Shakespeare into his modern story, and I found myself frequently smirking at those scenes. But for some reason, I just never felt entirely compelled by this book. While it was a ridiculously easy read, I labored through it, never able to just dive in.
Haig has several clever ways to incorporate Shakespeare into his modern story, and I found myself frequently smirking at those scenes. But for some reason, I just never felt entirely compelled by this book. While it was a ridiculously easy read, I labored through it, never able to just dive in.
October 24, 2020
So, I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed Philip’s perceptions and opinions on things—it was all quite hilarious.
This was a book that grabbed your attention immediately and held on with an iron grip. I never wanted to stop reading. It was amusing and clever and quirky.
The ending was a little off for me though. I’ve read through a few reviews, and no one seemed to be bothered by the ending, so maybe that’s just me. It felt abrupt and open. (I really hate those.)
But overall it was an enjoyable book. I will definitely be reading more from the author! The writing style was very nice.
This was a book that grabbed your attention immediately and held on with an iron grip. I never wanted to stop reading. It was amusing and clever and quirky.
The ending was a little off for me though. I’ve read through a few reviews, and no one seemed to be bothered by the ending, so maybe that’s just me. It felt abrupt and open. (I really hate those.)
But overall it was an enjoyable book. I will definitely be reading more from the author! The writing style was very nice.
February 9, 2019
3.5 stars rounded up. I love Matt Haig, I really do. This just isn't a favourite as far as his books are concerned. Actually I think it may have spoiled Hamlet for me a bit, which has always been one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. It's a lot more visceral to have the story told you by an eleven year old boy who is struggling with his father's death, than a privileged and somewhat pampered twenty-something prince. It made me quite sad, which bizarrely Hamlet never has before. It's more likely to be something wrong with me...
Anyway, I can't deny that this has pitch perfect voice, the observations made by Philip were sharp and insightful but cadged in the terms and understanding of a child, and one in an impossible situation to boot. To achieve this voice a lot of grammar and punctuation is sacrificed for a fair wind. I'd like to say that this doesn't bring me out in hives and facial tics but I'd be lying. At least to this extent. Of course we are always firmly inside Philip's head who enjoys the selective solipsism of childhood which he hasn't fully grown out of, but he is hardly unaware of the consequences of his actions. Torn between his love for his mother and the desire for revenge from his father coupled with his panic disorder, my heart went out to him.
True to the source material this isn't exactly a boo with a happy ending, although peace of a kind is achieved at the last. Aside from voice, it's true genius lies in the way Haig manages to incorporate sections of Hamlet but so thoroughly disguised and integrated in this world that you have to be a real Hamlet fan to pick them out. My favourite of these was when Philip is essentially going through the famous 'to be or not to be monologue' in his head, questioning his own existence. For that alone I'd say give this a whirl. However be prepared for something that doesn't follow the well beaten track of literature.
Anyway, I can't deny that this has pitch perfect voice, the observations made by Philip were sharp and insightful but cadged in the terms and understanding of a child, and one in an impossible situation to boot. To achieve this voice a lot of grammar and punctuation is sacrificed for a fair wind. I'd like to say that this doesn't bring me out in hives and facial tics but I'd be lying. At least to this extent. Of course we are always firmly inside Philip's head who enjoys the selective solipsism of childhood which he hasn't fully grown out of, but he is hardly unaware of the consequences of his actions. Torn between his love for his mother and the desire for revenge from his father coupled with his panic disorder, my heart went out to him.
True to the source material this isn't exactly a boo with a happy ending, although peace of a kind is achieved at the last. Aside from voice, it's true genius lies in the way Haig manages to incorporate sections of Hamlet but so thoroughly disguised and integrated in this world that you have to be a real Hamlet fan to pick them out. My favourite of these was when Philip is essentially going through the famous 'to be or not to be monologue' in his head, questioning his own existence. For that alone I'd say give this a whirl. However be prepared for something that doesn't follow the well beaten track of literature.
January 11, 2019
‘Philip Noble is an eleven-year-old in crisis. His pub landlord father has died in a road accident and his mother is succumbing to the greasy charms of her dead husband’s brother. The remaining certainties of Philip’s life crumble away when his father’s ghost appears to declare that he was murdered.
Arming himself with weapons from the school chemistry cupboard, Philip vows to carry out the ghost’s relentless demands for revenge. But can the words of a ghost be trusted anymore than the lies of the living?’
Oh my word guys. This book is ASTOUNDING. I wasn’t expecting too much from the blurb but the blurb seriously underplays the book. It’s all written from the perspective of Philip and the formatting style reflects this - it’s as if you’re reading words that Philip himself has actually written. This gives off a massive feeling of unreliability within the narrator - and that sets the tone for the entire novel.
But then you find yourself questioning the reliability of everyone involved in the book. Can Philip be trusted? Can his father’s ghost be trusted? And I love that shit. I eat that shit up every time. Give me all of the unreliability and let me figure it out for myself.
But the book also follows Philip entering teenagehood and leaving his childish years behind. He’s pushed head first into maturing early because of the tragedy of losing his father so it’s interesting to see how he deals with school, romance, and his own mental health is seriously affected by it.
I won’t say much more because I don’t want to spoil any of the book but I do seriously recommended this to everyone!
Arming himself with weapons from the school chemistry cupboard, Philip vows to carry out the ghost’s relentless demands for revenge. But can the words of a ghost be trusted anymore than the lies of the living?’
Oh my word guys. This book is ASTOUNDING. I wasn’t expecting too much from the blurb but the blurb seriously underplays the book. It’s all written from the perspective of Philip and the formatting style reflects this - it’s as if you’re reading words that Philip himself has actually written. This gives off a massive feeling of unreliability within the narrator - and that sets the tone for the entire novel.
But then you find yourself questioning the reliability of everyone involved in the book. Can Philip be trusted? Can his father’s ghost be trusted? And I love that shit. I eat that shit up every time. Give me all of the unreliability and let me figure it out for myself.
But the book also follows Philip entering teenagehood and leaving his childish years behind. He’s pushed head first into maturing early because of the tragedy of losing his father so it’s interesting to see how he deals with school, romance, and his own mental health is seriously affected by it.
I won’t say much more because I don’t want to spoil any of the book but I do seriously recommended this to everyone!
Read
May 2, 2019DNF @ Page 100
I've had this as ongoing reading since February. I do enjoy reading ghost stories, but I chose to DNF this one sadly for personal reasons. I respect Matt as a writer, he is very open about his mental health across his social medias which I respect, since this happened me to open up about my own experiences too. However, this is a story that at this time, I don't want to continue!
I've had this as ongoing reading since February. I do enjoy reading ghost stories, but I chose to DNF this one sadly for personal reasons. I respect Matt as a writer, he is very open about his mental health across his social medias which I respect, since this happened me to open up about my own experiences too. However, this is a story that at this time, I don't want to continue!
April 24, 2010
I really really wanted to like this book. It had so many brilliant things going for it: a great voice, hilarious scenes, interesting premise, great characters, great descriptions, witty turns of phrase and all that jazz.
BUT
There's always a but.
I found this book in the kids section of the library. It is about a 11 year old boy, so it stands to reason. Here are the things I found in the book: *SPOILERS*
* Lots of swearing, the "F" word repeatedly. Even uses the ultimate taboo "C" word about four times. Other less offensive baddies here too. Nothing I would want my kids to hear.
* The main character walks in on his mother and his uncle doing the jim jam (if you catch my drift) and it is described in horrific unsettling detail. Nothing I would want my kids to read.
* The boy kills a man. Definitely not something I would want my kids to read about. Murder by arson. There are also many attempted murder plots throughout the book.
* An 11 year old girl attempts suicide. Um,certainly this one speaks for itself.
So, yeah, this is NOT a kid's book.
But the worst was the ending. Don't you hate it when a book ends and you have to turn it upside down to see if any missing pages fall out? That's the way this ends. Not only does it end prematurely but the end is totally tragic. I kept thinking "That's it? Huh?"
But the ultimate clincher was that the narrator was very unreliable. I dislike these types of plots (A Beautiful Mind, Secret Window) because the writer spends so much time setting up support for the main premise and then screams "Fooled ya!"
But man, it was a funny book. I laughed through about 80% of it. But ultimately that didn't save it.
BUT
There's always a but.
I found this book in the kids section of the library. It is about a 11 year old boy, so it stands to reason. Here are the things I found in the book: *SPOILERS*
* Lots of swearing, the "F" word repeatedly. Even uses the ultimate taboo "C" word about four times. Other less offensive baddies here too. Nothing I would want my kids to hear.
* The main character walks in on his mother and his uncle doing the jim jam (if you catch my drift) and it is described in horrific unsettling detail. Nothing I would want my kids to read.
* The boy kills a man. Definitely not something I would want my kids to read about. Murder by arson. There are also many attempted murder plots throughout the book.
* An 11 year old girl attempts suicide. Um,certainly this one speaks for itself.
So, yeah, this is NOT a kid's book.
But the worst was the ending. Don't you hate it when a book ends and you have to turn it upside down to see if any missing pages fall out? That's the way this ends. Not only does it end prematurely but the end is totally tragic. I kept thinking "That's it? Huh?"
But the ultimate clincher was that the narrator was very unreliable. I dislike these types of plots (A Beautiful Mind, Secret Window) because the writer spends so much time setting up support for the main premise and then screams "Fooled ya!"
But man, it was a funny book. I laughed through about 80% of it. But ultimately that didn't save it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2018
Wasn't keen on the lack of punctuation, particularly commas. It made the main character sound like a monotonous automaton. Seems to me a poor way to convey that the MC was only eleven. I also felt the ending was flat. Didn't ring my bell at all.
October 1, 2021
Let's get this out of the way right off. The protagonist is 11 years old and the book starts out seeming like a middle-grade novel. Don't be fooled. It is absolutely not. It's not a bad book, but don't spring it on an unsuspecting tween.
When the ghost of Philip Noble's father appears to him with the news that Philip must avenge his murder, Philip's life gets complicated. I like the premise and the build-up, but ultimately I think it fell a little flat. I love so many of Haig's books, but this one left me wanting.
When the ghost of Philip Noble's father appears to him with the news that Philip must avenge his murder, Philip's life gets complicated. I like the premise and the build-up, but ultimately I think it fell a little flat. I love so many of Haig's books, but this one left me wanting.
January 13, 2021
I starting reading this after finishing The Midnight Library, and it was a solid let down. The writing style was annoying the whole way through, the ending was abrupt and inconclusive and I hated the dad
April 5, 2022
This was a strong 4 stars for me, a shame about the sudden ending though, which brought it down to 3 stars.
A unique, sad tale that I won't forget. I love Haig, but this one is probably my least fav by him so far.
A unique, sad tale that I won't forget. I love Haig, but this one is probably my least fav by him so far.
July 24, 2021
This really had my head spinning. I can honestly say I didn't know what was going on for most of it. I expected more having recently read the midnight library.
March 26, 2008
I selected this book because the idea and the voice interested me. The cover boast that it is kind of like a modern day Hamlet adn in a lot of ways it is.
It begins with the death of Phillips father, shortly followed by the appearance of his ghost saying that Phillip's uncle killed his father and Phillip must take revenge. Phillip tests the truth of this the same way Hamlet does, only with a DVD instead of personally directed play.
The book is written in first person train of thought. Haig follows this trend to the letter. There is no punctuation save the period which is even sometimes avoided creating long run ons. AT first it is neat, then it is annoying, then tiresome, and then addictive and you find yourself copying it. I was wondering if he'd be able to pull it off for a whole book. He does.
The story is interesting, but at a certain point I'm like "Come on. He can't expect an 11 year old to kill his uncle! I mean not REALLY!" Once I twice I doubt the realness of the ghost but then there is such heavy evidence to the fact that the ghost is real, it doesn't even bother me that Phillip doesnt' really try and tell anyone.
Then at the end, there is a sudden rebuking of this, or is there? This is the thing. I don't know what to make of the ending of this book. I certainly expected more, or least a definite out come. There are many ways to interpret this and finish it off in your head, something Haig leaves completely up to you. In some ways I find it disappointing, in other ways clever. Mostly I just want to know what happened, really.
The book also has its amusing side, which is subtle. The characters are interesting and the description are original and precise. I like his attachment to his fish. And, in spite of, or rather more likely Because OF, the ending I feel the need to re-read the whole darn thing.
The book is certainly engaging, very British with a brilliant, if not merely experimental, narrative, and if you're willing to knock your brain around creating your own ending (and facts) you should give it a go.
It begins with the death of Phillips father, shortly followed by the appearance of his ghost saying that Phillip's uncle killed his father and Phillip must take revenge. Phillip tests the truth of this the same way Hamlet does, only with a DVD instead of personally directed play.
The book is written in first person train of thought. Haig follows this trend to the letter. There is no punctuation save the period which is even sometimes avoided creating long run ons. AT first it is neat, then it is annoying, then tiresome, and then addictive and you find yourself copying it. I was wondering if he'd be able to pull it off for a whole book. He does.
The story is interesting, but at a certain point I'm like "Come on. He can't expect an 11 year old to kill his uncle! I mean not REALLY!" Once I twice I doubt the realness of the ghost but then there is such heavy evidence to the fact that the ghost is real, it doesn't even bother me that Phillip doesnt' really try and tell anyone.
Then at the end, there is a sudden rebuking of this, or is there? This is the thing. I don't know what to make of the ending of this book. I certainly expected more, or least a definite out come. There are many ways to interpret this and finish it off in your head, something Haig leaves completely up to you. In some ways I find it disappointing, in other ways clever. Mostly I just want to know what happened, really.
The book also has its amusing side, which is subtle. The characters are interesting and the description are original and precise. I like his attachment to his fish. And, in spite of, or rather more likely Because OF, the ending I feel the need to re-read the whole darn thing.
The book is certainly engaging, very British with a brilliant, if not merely experimental, narrative, and if you're willing to knock your brain around creating your own ending (and facts) you should give it a go.
May 14, 2008
This was on my booklist. I found this to be an entertaining book to listen on tape. The prose is comical. The point of view is amusing. It is indeed "more than a nod to 'Hamlet'," yet light. The narration was both charmingly well done. Unlike other Audio Books, my attention was never lost. I think in many ways if I had read this book, the tone would have felt repetitive and the narrator would have seemed darker. The book is fun for what it is. I suggest the audio cd over the book.
September 4, 2017
I bought this book not knowing it was a re-telling of Hamlet, but it did not disappoint.
This is the story of Phillip, an eleven-year-old boy whose father has just died in a car crash. Soon after, his Uncle Allan starts getting too close to Phillip's mother, just when Phillip's father's ghost starts appearing before him, telling him he must kill his uncle, as he was the one who killed him.
We follow the narration from Phillip's point of view. There are no punctuation signs, as one could expect from a boy of that age, and Phillip's inner thoughts are hilarious sometimes, as well as his mental processes of what's happening. We see his struggle between trying to save his father's ghost from some eternal terrors, with the imposed deadline of his father's birthday, which is the last day to kill him and complete his revenge, and the fact that he doesn't really know if he wants to kill his uncle.
But Phillip gets distracted by a girl, Leah, and some bullies in his classroom, and in the end, even by some diazepam pills prescribed by his doctor after a few unfortunate attempts to follow his father's ghost's instructions.
The story starts getting darker in the last chapters, as one could expect from a Hamlet re-telling, though there are a few changes towards the end that don't betray the spirit.
This was a really nice read, and I must admit that I liked it more than some recent "serious" Shakespeare re-tellings.
This is the story of Phillip, an eleven-year-old boy whose father has just died in a car crash. Soon after, his Uncle Allan starts getting too close to Phillip's mother, just when Phillip's father's ghost starts appearing before him, telling him he must kill his uncle, as he was the one who killed him.
We follow the narration from Phillip's point of view. There are no punctuation signs, as one could expect from a boy of that age, and Phillip's inner thoughts are hilarious sometimes, as well as his mental processes of what's happening. We see his struggle between trying to save his father's ghost from some eternal terrors, with the imposed deadline of his father's birthday, which is the last day to kill him and complete his revenge, and the fact that he doesn't really know if he wants to kill his uncle.
But Phillip gets distracted by a girl, Leah, and some bullies in his classroom, and in the end, even by some diazepam pills prescribed by his doctor after a few unfortunate attempts to follow his father's ghost's instructions.
The story starts getting darker in the last chapters, as one could expect from a Hamlet re-telling, though there are a few changes towards the end that don't betray the spirit.
This was a really nice read, and I must admit that I liked it more than some recent "serious" Shakespeare re-tellings.
December 8, 2019
I'm going to keep this review short because I just generally don't have much to say about this book. It was odd and that is my general overall view of it; I literally cannot explain the experience of reading this book without using the word odd. There are no speech marks so everything just flows on and its hard to tell at times what is speech and what isn't.
This is meant to be a modern take on Hamlet from my understanding, and maybe my issue is that I just don't enjoy retellings. I couldn't really get the plot with this one; are ghosts actually real in this world or was Phillip just lost in the throes of grief. He's meant to be 11 but his POV just reads as a lot younger. Did Alan kill his father? Who the hell knows, it's never made clear and by the end of the book Alan is in deep water himself (pun intended).
I think this book really lost me when This book was just so all over the place that I really didn't know what it wanted to be or what it wanted of its audience. It was just odd. That's literally all I can sum it up with. Odd. Disappointing after I loved his, The Humans.
This is meant to be a modern take on Hamlet from my understanding, and maybe my issue is that I just don't enjoy retellings. I couldn't really get the plot with this one; are ghosts actually real in this world or was Phillip just lost in the throes of grief. He's meant to be 11 but his POV just reads as a lot younger. Did Alan kill his father? Who the hell knows, it's never made clear and by the end of the book Alan is in deep water himself (pun intended).
I think this book really lost me when This book was just so all over the place that I really didn't know what it wanted to be or what it wanted of its audience. It was just odd. That's literally all I can sum it up with. Odd. Disappointing after I loved his, The Humans.
June 10, 2018
This is an updated version of Hamlet. It's quite an interesting concept but I struggled with this one and only just managed to finish it. There's not a whole lot of punctuation and that bothered me.
It does have a charm to it and I applaud the experimental attempt but overall this one didn't quite work for me#
Free arc from netgalley
It does have a charm to it and I applaud the experimental attempt but overall this one didn't quite work for me#
Free arc from netgalley
March 28, 2021
The new ones are better. It might just be me, but this child perspective isn't doing it for me...
And all the "he said she said" dialogues - and I mean they literally went like this:
He said why wont you let me help you?
And she said i dont want to bother you.
It was a very tiring thing to read.
And all the "he said she said" dialogues - and I mean they literally went like this:
He said why wont you let me help you?
And she said i dont want to bother you.
It was a very tiring thing to read.
December 6, 2025
Rating: 2.5
Let me start by saying I fell in love with Haig’s The midnight Library and began reading all of his other books after, but none of them have been able to capture me the same way. That book set the bar high for me and so far all of his other books have been either OK or good, but not amazing.
The story here is interesting, but of course it is based on Hamlet, so not 100% original, but it is a retelling of the story with changes, so still interesting and different. The story is told through an 11-year-old boy’s voice which explains the simplicity of language; however, the writing format and its lack of punctuation is unnecessary and very annoying. The dialogues are also very clunky and similarly annoying. In qddition, the boy’s narration frequently becomes an unfiltered jumble of information regarding sights and sounds and facts which makes the reader think he is probably on the autism spectrum and so brings to mind The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. But I definitely loved that book much more than this one.
Let me start by saying I fell in love with Haig’s The midnight Library and began reading all of his other books after, but none of them have been able to capture me the same way. That book set the bar high for me and so far all of his other books have been either OK or good, but not amazing.
The story here is interesting, but of course it is based on Hamlet, so not 100% original, but it is a retelling of the story with changes, so still interesting and different. The story is told through an 11-year-old boy’s voice which explains the simplicity of language; however, the writing format and its lack of punctuation is unnecessary and very annoying. The dialogues are also very clunky and similarly annoying. In qddition, the boy’s narration frequently becomes an unfiltered jumble of information regarding sights and sounds and facts which makes the reader think he is probably on the autism spectrum and so brings to mind The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. But I definitely loved that book much more than this one.
May 31, 2018
I had been keen to read a Matt Haig book for a while, after hearing fantastic reviews of his other books. So I jumped at the chance to read this, especially after reading the description.
What a very unique premise for a book this was. A young boy of eleven loses his father, only to be confronted by his ghost. Ghost Dad tells him that he must get revenge for his father's death, and haunts the boy until he starts getting himself into trouble. Of course, nobody else knows his dad is still around. It's hard to review this without giving the whole story away, but I don't want to start telling the whole story as I don't want to ruin it for anyone else!
At first I was completely weirded out by the almost non-existent grammar and punctuation in the book, but as the book was meant to have been written by an eleven-year-old boy I understood why the author chose to write it that way. Even so, it took some getting used to! Especially for someone like me, the Superintendent of the Grammar Police.
I did enjoy reading this book. It was well written from a story-telling point of view, and there were quite a few unexpected turns. I liked the characters, and the author's idea of ghosts was an interesting and almost plausible one. I haven't heard a similar version before, so I assume that it was a completely novel theory which worked excellently in this story. The description of the ghosts and what happened to them was detailed enough for me to be able to picture them clearly and imagine the unknown world beyond. The living characters were also well written and their emotions and hardships were right there on the page, particularly the turmoil of the poor protagonist.
Overall I would say this book was totally out there, but also very heartfelt and dramatic, and that's why I enjoyed it. I'm not sure who I would recommend this book to, but I would definitely look out for the author again. Maybe one of my crazier friends...
What a very unique premise for a book this was. A young boy of eleven loses his father, only to be confronted by his ghost. Ghost Dad tells him that he must get revenge for his father's death, and haunts the boy until he starts getting himself into trouble. Of course, nobody else knows his dad is still around. It's hard to review this without giving the whole story away, but I don't want to start telling the whole story as I don't want to ruin it for anyone else!
At first I was completely weirded out by the almost non-existent grammar and punctuation in the book, but as the book was meant to have been written by an eleven-year-old boy I understood why the author chose to write it that way. Even so, it took some getting used to! Especially for someone like me, the Superintendent of the Grammar Police.
I did enjoy reading this book. It was well written from a story-telling point of view, and there were quite a few unexpected turns. I liked the characters, and the author's idea of ghosts was an interesting and almost plausible one. I haven't heard a similar version before, so I assume that it was a completely novel theory which worked excellently in this story. The description of the ghosts and what happened to them was detailed enough for me to be able to picture them clearly and imagine the unknown world beyond. The living characters were also well written and their emotions and hardships were right there on the page, particularly the turmoil of the poor protagonist.
Overall I would say this book was totally out there, but also very heartfelt and dramatic, and that's why I enjoyed it. I'm not sure who I would recommend this book to, but I would definitely look out for the author again. Maybe one of my crazier friends...
March 16, 2022
Mi spiace ma no.
Matt Haig qui vuole riscrivere Amleto ma manca il bersaglio.
Il punto critico del romanzo è sicuramente linguistico-stilistico: i dialoghi sono farraginosi, non scorrono, si inceppano, il lessico è ripetitivo (e non voglio nemmeno sentire la scusa del "è il linguaggio di un ragazzino di 11 anni" ... no, lo scrittore fa di meglio, basti pensare ai dialoghi che Lindgren mette "in bocca" a personaggi di quell'età o anche più piccoli non sminuendo il pensiero e non banalizzando il lessico).
Ma non è solo una questione di stile, anche la struttura narrativa non regge: i riferimenti a Shakespeare sono continui e insistiti (Matt, abbiamo capito a pagina 2... basta così), le strizzate d'occhio al lettore ininterrotte (si, Matt, lo sappiamo che adesso questo che sembra Polonio muore), i personaggi si muovono per l'inerzia della trama Shakespeareana ma qui non hanno carattere, motivazioni, le cose avvengono senza un perché, i personaggi non seguono logiche e pensieri, agiscono e basta...
Ho trovato davvero fastidiosa anche la banalizzazione di problematiche e disagi come la salute mentale, la depressione, il lutto ... sminuito a semplice mecanismo narrativo.
E anche la conclusione, mi limiterò a dire che è molto molto lontana dalla genialità Shakespeareana.
Approcciato con altissime aspettative, un grandissimo buco nell'acqua.
Matt Haig qui vuole riscrivere Amleto ma manca il bersaglio.
Il punto critico del romanzo è sicuramente linguistico-stilistico: i dialoghi sono farraginosi, non scorrono, si inceppano, il lessico è ripetitivo (e non voglio nemmeno sentire la scusa del "è il linguaggio di un ragazzino di 11 anni" ... no, lo scrittore fa di meglio, basti pensare ai dialoghi che Lindgren mette "in bocca" a personaggi di quell'età o anche più piccoli non sminuendo il pensiero e non banalizzando il lessico).
Ma non è solo una questione di stile, anche la struttura narrativa non regge: i riferimenti a Shakespeare sono continui e insistiti (Matt, abbiamo capito a pagina 2... basta così), le strizzate d'occhio al lettore ininterrotte (si, Matt, lo sappiamo che adesso questo che sembra Polonio muore), i personaggi si muovono per l'inerzia della trama Shakespeareana ma qui non hanno carattere, motivazioni, le cose avvengono senza un perché, i personaggi non seguono logiche e pensieri, agiscono e basta...
Ho trovato davvero fastidiosa anche la banalizzazione di problematiche e disagi come la salute mentale, la depressione, il lutto ... sminuito a semplice mecanismo narrativo.
E anche la conclusione, mi limiterò a dire che è molto molto lontana dalla genialità Shakespeareana.
Approcciato con altissime aspettative, un grandissimo buco nell'acqua.
May 3, 2023
I absolutely loved this book. It’s a loose retelling of Hamlet but told through the perspective of a young boy. I’ve seen several reviews that complain of the simple language and short conversations, but as someone who teaches young middle school aged kids it was very realistic. Yes, the language was simple and sometimes silly, but that is exactly how younger children act. I believe the author did a great job writing this story from a unique perspective.
I highly recommend as a quick fun read! I also listened to the audiobook and a young British boy was the reader which made it even more enjoyable.
I highly recommend as a quick fun read! I also listened to the audiobook and a young British boy was the reader which made it even more enjoyable.
Read
June 27, 2024This book was…fine? I guess? I don't know.
It was recommended to me by my sister who really enjoyed it. And I guess I went in with really high expectations based on what she told me because it kind of felt like a let down. It’s one of those books that’s really easy to read in a couple of hours. I did it in the course of an afternoon and probably could’ve done it faster if I wasn’t getting interrupted.
“The Dead Father’s Club” is a story about a boy named Phillip whose father is killed in a car accident. He believes that he’s begun seeing his father’s ghost and his father tells him the only people that become ghosts are those who were murdered. His father, Brian, tells Phillip that his Uncle Alan was the one who killed him and insists that because Phillip is the only one who can see and understand Brian that Phillip needs to take vengeance for his father and kill Alan so his father can rest in peace.
While the premise sounds really interesting, there were a lot of unfinished threads about history, Phillip’s interests and struggles, and a sort of Hamlet-esque angle that were presented but ultimately either neglected or tossed aside when the author found other threads they liked better. There was an entire plotline presented about how Phillip found out one of the men in his father’s ghost club was the murdered father of his favorite teacher. But as soon as he finds out, it’s never really brought up again? So it left me with the feeling of the book being unfinished.
Personally, I really liked the concept, but it just felt flat because the characters were uninteresting to me. I would’ve liked to see a concept like this done in the style of someone like Neil Gaiman or Erin Morgenstern. Someone with a style and flavor that lends to that atmospheric type of fantasy while still having more dynamic characters.
There were also some things about mental and emotional health that were discussed that made me really un-comfy in how they were approached, so read at your own discretion. It’s definitely one of those books that was written in early 2000s because it has that vibe of wanting to be supportive of people struggling with those things and yet still treating mental and emotional health with a very negative approach.
I also struggled with Phillip because he’s supposed to be 11, but at no point in the book does he act, speak, react, or think like an 11-year-old boy. And some of the personal struggles he’s going through or plot lines that come up are things that probably wouldn’t be dealt with or really considered until he was an 8th grader/freshman at the very least. So there was a lot that just didn’t feel natural. Not only with him but also with the character of his mother and how she was presented.
I’m not going to give this one a star rating because I think there are people who will really enjoy this, but it was one that I came away from feeling like I’d wasted my time.
It was recommended to me by my sister who really enjoyed it. And I guess I went in with really high expectations based on what she told me because it kind of felt like a let down. It’s one of those books that’s really easy to read in a couple of hours. I did it in the course of an afternoon and probably could’ve done it faster if I wasn’t getting interrupted.
“The Dead Father’s Club” is a story about a boy named Phillip whose father is killed in a car accident. He believes that he’s begun seeing his father’s ghost and his father tells him the only people that become ghosts are those who were murdered. His father, Brian, tells Phillip that his Uncle Alan was the one who killed him and insists that because Phillip is the only one who can see and understand Brian that Phillip needs to take vengeance for his father and kill Alan so his father can rest in peace.
While the premise sounds really interesting, there were a lot of unfinished threads about history, Phillip’s interests and struggles, and a sort of Hamlet-esque angle that were presented but ultimately either neglected or tossed aside when the author found other threads they liked better. There was an entire plotline presented about how Phillip found out one of the men in his father’s ghost club was the murdered father of his favorite teacher. But as soon as he finds out, it’s never really brought up again? So it left me with the feeling of the book being unfinished.
Personally, I really liked the concept, but it just felt flat because the characters were uninteresting to me. I would’ve liked to see a concept like this done in the style of someone like Neil Gaiman or Erin Morgenstern. Someone with a style and flavor that lends to that atmospheric type of fantasy while still having more dynamic characters.
There were also some things about mental and emotional health that were discussed that made me really un-comfy in how they were approached, so read at your own discretion. It’s definitely one of those books that was written in early 2000s because it has that vibe of wanting to be supportive of people struggling with those things and yet still treating mental and emotional health with a very negative approach.
I also struggled with Phillip because he’s supposed to be 11, but at no point in the book does he act, speak, react, or think like an 11-year-old boy. And some of the personal struggles he’s going through or plot lines that come up are things that probably wouldn’t be dealt with or really considered until he was an 8th grader/freshman at the very least. So there was a lot that just didn’t feel natural. Not only with him but also with the character of his mother and how she was presented.
I’m not going to give this one a star rating because I think there are people who will really enjoy this, but it was one that I came away from feeling like I’d wasted my time.
August 23, 2021
Nachdem ich die "Mitternachtsbibliothek" von Haig so grossartig fand, war ich gespannt auf weitere Werke des Autors. Für eine Challenge hat dieses Buch hier sehr gut gepasst, also habe ich mich umgehend ans Lesen gemacht.
Schade, dass diese Hamlet-Nacherzählung so gar nicht meins war. Auch wenn sie eigentlich eine kreative Idee ist, und auch gut umgesetzt. Aber leider hatte ich meine liebe Mühe mit dem kindlichen Erzähler und der Art, wie er erzählt, die oft schon an den Stream of Consciousness erinnert. Aber eben auf sehr kindlichem Niveau.
Eigentlich eine sehr gute Idee, wie schon gesagt. Man bekommt so die ganze Tragik des Hamlet-Stoffes aus der unschuldigen und oft naiven Kindersicht erzählt.
Aber genau das fand ich auf die Dauer enorm anstrengend. Oft dreht sich die Handlung im Kreis, macht nur mühsam Fortschritte und der Text liest sich zäh und nur widerwillig. Jedenfalls erging es mir bei der Lektüre so.
Dennoch spreche ich Haig sein Können nicht ab und bin deshalb auch von ihm nicht enttäuscht. Gerne werde ich weitere Bücher von ihm lesen und mir noch ein tieferes Bild seines abwechslungsreichen Schreibstils machen.
Schade, dass diese Hamlet-Nacherzählung so gar nicht meins war. Auch wenn sie eigentlich eine kreative Idee ist, und auch gut umgesetzt. Aber leider hatte ich meine liebe Mühe mit dem kindlichen Erzähler und der Art, wie er erzählt, die oft schon an den Stream of Consciousness erinnert. Aber eben auf sehr kindlichem Niveau.
Eigentlich eine sehr gute Idee, wie schon gesagt. Man bekommt so die ganze Tragik des Hamlet-Stoffes aus der unschuldigen und oft naiven Kindersicht erzählt.
Aber genau das fand ich auf die Dauer enorm anstrengend. Oft dreht sich die Handlung im Kreis, macht nur mühsam Fortschritte und der Text liest sich zäh und nur widerwillig. Jedenfalls erging es mir bei der Lektüre so.
Dennoch spreche ich Haig sein Können nicht ab und bin deshalb auch von ihm nicht enttäuscht. Gerne werde ich weitere Bücher von ihm lesen und mir noch ein tieferes Bild seines abwechslungsreichen Schreibstils machen.
May 12, 2024
I heard this is a loose retelling of Hamlet, but I did not read Hamlet so I cannot compare it to that. I just have liked everything I’ve read of Matt Haig and the audiobook was available on the Libby app so here we are. The story is told in first person by Philip who is eleven years old. His father is murdered. And comes back as a spirit and tells Philip he knows who murdered him and to kill the murderer. I could not tell if Philip was imagining his interactions with his deceased father or if it was real. Because the main character is eleven you may think this is a kid’s book but it is NOT. There is vulgar language and the boy sees his mother and the “supposed” murderer doing adult things in the bedroom. This is definitely for more mature audiences. The narrator, Andrew Dennis, is fantastic. He sounds like a young British boy. I enjoyed the novel and kept wondering if Philip had some mental issues going on. Even the ending kept me wondering.
May 17, 2018
This book was kind of addicting! I really enjoyed the POV of an 11-year-old boy, it was so funny and interesting. It also dealt with a lot of heavy topics, which I was surprised by, I also felt like this was such a unique concept, even though I didn’t always like how it was implemented. I think I would have liked it more if it was more focussed on the ghosts themselves instead of the boy trying to get revenge for his father.
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