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Some Rights of Memory
Does a bad crime make a bad person?
What if no one ever asked for forgiveness?
A family looks at the pieces of a life spent
Pursuing wealth in the absence of morality,
Wondering where it all went wrong.
The past cannot reveal what the future holds,
As the hedge fund crumbles under the weight
Of those pesky regulations once ignored.
The rubble is all that is left of the castle,
Yet some rights of memory remain for
Those bold enough to try to stake a claim.
What if no one ever asked for forgiveness?
A family looks at the pieces of a life spent
Pursuing wealth in the absence of morality,
Wondering where it all went wrong.
The past cannot reveal what the future holds,
As the hedge fund crumbles under the weight
Of those pesky regulations once ignored.
The rubble is all that is left of the castle,
Yet some rights of memory remain for
Those bold enough to try to stake a claim.
290 pages, Paperback
Published October 17, 2017
1 person want to read
About the author
Ian Thomas Malone
13 books401 followersIan Thomas Malone is an author, comedian, and podcast host. She earned her B.A. at Boston College in 2013, where she founded The Rock at Boston College and an M.A. from Claremont Graduate University. Ian's treatise The Transgender Manifesto is a bestseller in LGBTQ non-fiction. She has contributed chapters to academic books on James Cameron and Star Trek: Voyager. Ian's debut comedy album, Confessions From My New Vagina, was released in 2021. Since 2019, Ian has hosted the Estradiol Illusions podcast, covering entertainment and LGBTQ issues. Ian resides in Long Beach, California.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 21, 2021
Some Rights of Memory: Drunk Mary is my imaginary bestie.
I loved this book but had to rewrite my perspective entirely 4-5 times before I felt it captured my reading experience. While this review reads a little plain, this was a complex review to put to paper. Strangely, Malone’s Some Rights of Memory started me contemplating about the past; It made me feel very lucky that I grew up with some flexible low ambitions, lots of pot, boredom, and authority problems.
In the late 1990’s I was post high-school, working crappy temp service manufacturing jobs and donating plasma for cigarette money. I spent all of my remaining cash on ramen noodles and supplemented my dietary needs with lots of booze. I found great solace in the bottomless coffee at Denny’s and free saltine crackers.
Had I been a quarter as ambitious as Aiden Davies, I could have used a fragment of that sodium-laden energy and gotten some hustle on. I could be retired right now and wandered my own private beach wearing nothing but a smile and a diamond-encrusted jock strap. Well, you know, until the F.B.I. drops by and spoils the beach party.
Lucky for me, I am content to drunkenly thank the universe for a hundred safe landings after rolling down the stairs for the hundredth time.
This year has showcased a number of quite stellar novels and this was absolutely one of them. Within the pages of this novel I found a deep and emotional retrospective on people damaged by life and fringe opulence.
Throughout the book, one central figure stood out. I felt that no matter how you approach it, this is her story. She has no compass, no goals, and no clue. She was a prize to be won, and became a trophy. She is the shed husk of pupa adulthood, along for the ride then left behind when the butterfly collapses from metamorphic exhaustion.
Mary Davies is drunk. Mary has never needed a reason to drink, but if she wanted one, she has one now and knows it. She cannot smell the booze and stink coming from her pores. She ignores her two-year-old son and leaves him to be minded by the nanny/ maid/ assistance. Were she sober, this would be no different; She has a child much in the same way she has purses, to checkmark the social status box.
Mary is married but not merry. Her excuse for pill popping and booze-swilling are the other narrators of this tale: a husband (Aiden) and brother (Giles Moore), both of which are in a ton of trouble. They have been fishing the treacherous waters lake Ponzi, catching fish and releasing fewer than reported. Aiden is mising, appearing to skip town at just the right moment, leaving everyone he cared about in legal hot water and under public scrutiny. Reporters, strangers, police, and socialites are all wondering ‘Where is the money?’.
Some Rights of Memory follows a storyless story, not unlike the Scarlet Thomas novel Our Tragic Universe or the vast array of ‘classic’ literature. While the book has a beginning and an end, the core plot is less of a who-dun-it and is more about the journey and discovery than a simple answer. While the final chapter of this book does contain answers, the action of becoming familiar with the characters is the important part of reading it. (see also: The Sun Also Rises / Winter of our Discontent)
The first chapter is reminiscent of Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. Being fairly long and following a ‘NotQuite’-stream of consciousness, the opening chapter makes cohesive statements of drunken clarity from the perspective of Mary. She rolls out of bed and begins a quest for booze and oblivion. Unlike Sound/Fury, there is no timeshift making you confused and sick.. just a healthy dose of witty internal drunk banter.
All of the remaining segments follow a standard narrative process, leaving the Faulkner to just the first chapter... They tell differing perspectives on the same history. All of the chapters/narrators are unique and vibrant, some serious, seeming to start off as a potential disappointment, but end up topping/matching the chapter prior. ‘How can the author of this book keep up the emotional flow after the last chapter?’. As a reader, you dive head first into the next part of the story, get used to the dramatic shift in perspective, then just enjoy it.
__
Disclosure:
This review was based on a copy provided by the Author/Publisher for review purposes. Sometimes your email is overflowing with spam: erectile dysfunction solutions, african royalty, links to malware. Other times, it contains a single sentence from a distant friend or a nugget of amazing advice that should not be filtered. Regardless of where the book was sourced, in my reviews I make it clear if the the ‘mailbox’ is filled with snake oil or if it is okay for opening in front of your grandmother.
I loved this book but had to rewrite my perspective entirely 4-5 times before I felt it captured my reading experience. While this review reads a little plain, this was a complex review to put to paper. Strangely, Malone’s Some Rights of Memory started me contemplating about the past; It made me feel very lucky that I grew up with some flexible low ambitions, lots of pot, boredom, and authority problems.
In the late 1990’s I was post high-school, working crappy temp service manufacturing jobs and donating plasma for cigarette money. I spent all of my remaining cash on ramen noodles and supplemented my dietary needs with lots of booze. I found great solace in the bottomless coffee at Denny’s and free saltine crackers.
Had I been a quarter as ambitious as Aiden Davies, I could have used a fragment of that sodium-laden energy and gotten some hustle on. I could be retired right now and wandered my own private beach wearing nothing but a smile and a diamond-encrusted jock strap. Well, you know, until the F.B.I. drops by and spoils the beach party.
Lucky for me, I am content to drunkenly thank the universe for a hundred safe landings after rolling down the stairs for the hundredth time.
This year has showcased a number of quite stellar novels and this was absolutely one of them. Within the pages of this novel I found a deep and emotional retrospective on people damaged by life and fringe opulence.
Throughout the book, one central figure stood out. I felt that no matter how you approach it, this is her story. She has no compass, no goals, and no clue. She was a prize to be won, and became a trophy. She is the shed husk of pupa adulthood, along for the ride then left behind when the butterfly collapses from metamorphic exhaustion.
Mary Davies is drunk. Mary has never needed a reason to drink, but if she wanted one, she has one now and knows it. She cannot smell the booze and stink coming from her pores. She ignores her two-year-old son and leaves him to be minded by the nanny/ maid/ assistance. Were she sober, this would be no different; She has a child much in the same way she has purses, to checkmark the social status box.
Mary is married but not merry. Her excuse for pill popping and booze-swilling are the other narrators of this tale: a husband (Aiden) and brother (Giles Moore), both of which are in a ton of trouble. They have been fishing the treacherous waters lake Ponzi, catching fish and releasing fewer than reported. Aiden is mising, appearing to skip town at just the right moment, leaving everyone he cared about in legal hot water and under public scrutiny. Reporters, strangers, police, and socialites are all wondering ‘Where is the money?’.
Some Rights of Memory follows a storyless story, not unlike the Scarlet Thomas novel Our Tragic Universe or the vast array of ‘classic’ literature. While the book has a beginning and an end, the core plot is less of a who-dun-it and is more about the journey and discovery than a simple answer. While the final chapter of this book does contain answers, the action of becoming familiar with the characters is the important part of reading it. (see also: The Sun Also Rises / Winter of our Discontent)
The first chapter is reminiscent of Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. Being fairly long and following a ‘NotQuite’-stream of consciousness, the opening chapter makes cohesive statements of drunken clarity from the perspective of Mary. She rolls out of bed and begins a quest for booze and oblivion. Unlike Sound/Fury, there is no timeshift making you confused and sick.. just a healthy dose of witty internal drunk banter.
All of the remaining segments follow a standard narrative process, leaving the Faulkner to just the first chapter... They tell differing perspectives on the same history. All of the chapters/narrators are unique and vibrant, some serious, seeming to start off as a potential disappointment, but end up topping/matching the chapter prior. ‘How can the author of this book keep up the emotional flow after the last chapter?’. As a reader, you dive head first into the next part of the story, get used to the dramatic shift in perspective, then just enjoy it.
__
Disclosure:
This review was based on a copy provided by the Author/Publisher for review purposes. Sometimes your email is overflowing with spam: erectile dysfunction solutions, african royalty, links to malware. Other times, it contains a single sentence from a distant friend or a nugget of amazing advice that should not be filtered. Regardless of where the book was sourced, in my reviews I make it clear if the the ‘mailbox’ is filled with snake oil or if it is okay for opening in front of your grandmother.
January 3, 2018
Malone writes a master mystery from the start, the tale slowly and beguilingly unfolding with each page. The story and storytelling are far more captivating than an evening watching Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. At heart, Some Rights of Memory is about family and human weakness, set against the backdrop of the folly of greed and power. This novel could be an ethics lesson, forcing you to consider the strength of your own moral compass as you see first-hand the motivations and intentions of the characters — would you do anything different, were you in their shoes? There are even lessons on economics and investments trickled throughout; although, as evident by the end, perhaps it’s best to not follow their guidance. Whether the financial lessons are worth following or not, the life lessons from observing how different people deal with crises and tragedies are important.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews