A Perfect Night to Go to China

by David Gilmour

Winner of the 2005 Governor General's Award for Fiction

This astonishing novel - unlike anything Gilmour has ever written before - begins with every parent's worst the disappearance of a child. A father makes a casual error of judgement one evening and leaves his six-year-old son alone for fifteen minutes. When he returns the child is gone and three lives are changed forever. Has the boy been kidnapped? Spirited out of the country? Is he dead?

The story that unfolds is told by the novel's narrator, a television host named Roman, who searches for his son through the city and through the underworld of dreams and tries to bring him back. Pursued by an unshakeable conviction that his son is speaking directly to him, Roman begins to enter a haunting relationship with the missing child and his own conscience. In the meantime, his behaviour becomes increasingly erratic and he is rejected by his grieving and angry wife, eventually fired from his job, and shadowed by a persistent policeman who thinks Roman is hiding the child. Written in the clear, elegant prose Gilmour is known for, A Perfect Night to Go to China is a completely absorbing and original work of fiction. It sets up a harrowing premise and doesn't let up until the last surprising page.

Genres: Canada, Fiction, Canadian Literature, Literary Fiction, Novels, Adult Fiction, Contemporary

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

David Gilmour is a novelist who has earned critical praise from literary figures as diverse as William Burroughs and Northrop Frye, and from publications as different as the New York Times to People magazine. The author of six novels, he also hosted the award-winning Gilmour on the Arts. In 2005, his novel A Perfect Night to Go to China won the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. His next book, The Film Club, was a finalist for the 2008 Charles Taylor Prize. It became an international bestseller, and has sold over 200,000 copies in Germany and over 100,000 copies in Brazil. He lives in Toronto with his wife.

Reviews

[Pardis · Rating 3 out of 5]

باید بلند میشدم، باید آشپزخانه کوچک اتاقم را تمیز میکردم، به کتاب خواندن ادامه میدادم یا اینکه میرفتم پایین به سرسرای هتل. از ماندن کنار زخم هایم در تاریکی چیزی عایدم نمیشد. چیزی نبود که به آن فکر کنم، هیچ چیز جدید یا سودمندی نبود، فقط همان فیلم تکراری من خسته که به طرف پایین خیابان میرفتم، چند تا آبجو میخوردم، به دخترهای گروه موسیقی لبخند میزدم، به خانه برمیگشتم. بوی او در خانه، تخت خالی، به تعداد لکه های خورشیدی که میتوان در یک فیلم دید، به آن موضوع فکر کرده بودم.

شخصيت اصلي اين داستان، رومن، مرد تنهايي است كه مجري يكي از معروف‌ترين و پربيننده‌ترين برنامه‌هاي تلويزيوني است. او و همسرش رابطه‌اي بسيار سرد و مكانيكي باهم دارند تا جايي كه گيلمور نام او را با حرف اختصاري اول اسمش بيان مي‌كند. در واقع تنها نقطه روشن زندگي او پسركوچكش سايمون است. سايمون كوچك و زيبا كه در اين نابساماني عهده‌دار تمام نقش‌هاي شادي‌آور زندگي پدر و مادرش شده در همان ابتداي قصه گم مي‌شود. رومن لحظه‌اي او را كه در تختخوابش خوابيده تنها مي‌گذارد و به كافه روبه‌روي خانه مي‌رود و چند دقيقه بعد با ناباوري مي‌بيند كه اتاق‌خواب سايمون خالي است و ردي از او در جايي نيست، او و پليس به دنبال كودك مي‌گردند اما هيچ اثري از او پيدا نمي‌كنند حتي جسدش نيز كشف نمي‌شود. انگار دستي از غيب تنها دلخوشي اين مرد تنها را از او مي‌گيرد و به دنبال اين جريان همه اعتبار شغلي و محبوبيتش در جامعه، درآمدش، باقي مانده ارتباط زناشويي و حتي سلامتي جسم و روحش نيز به باد مي‌رود. همسرش (كه او را مقصر مي‌داند)‌ نمي‌خواهد ببيندش و كم‌كم نبود سايمون براي رومن جنوني مي‌شود كه او را به نابودي مي‌كشاند. او به اعتياد پناه مي‌برد و اعتياد باعث بيكاريش مي‌شود. كار به جايي مي‌رسد كه او دست به سرقت مي زند. از يك مجري سرشناس به يك انسان غيراخلاقي و غيراجتماعي تبديل مي‌شود. رومن خود را مقصر مي‌داند، به همدلي خواننده كمك مي‌كند. نويسنده بخوبي نشان مي‌دهد كه جهان ناامني كه ما را در بر گرفته براحتي در چشم بر هم زدني، مي‌‌تواند تمام دلخوشي‌هاي ما را بگيرد. اما آنچه كه بازيركي چون روحي در كالبد داستان دميده شده، تعليق ميان دو فضاي مادي و معنوي داستان و معلق نگه‌داشتن خواننده ميان اين دو فضاست. (آیه کیانپور – جام جم)

چیزی که زندگی رو غیر قابل تحمل می کنه اینه که تصور کنی همه چیز همین طور که هست باقی می مونه و ادامه پیدا می کنه. اما من به شما می گم که این طور نیست.

[Saeed Habibi · Rating 3 out of 5]

جذبم کرد و طوری پیش رفت که تا حدودی از شخصیت خود داستان به دور شدم و خودم را به‌جاش تصور کردم. نویسنده لحظه‌های مختلف را در غالب احساسات یکسان اما به ظاهر متفاوت نشان می‌داد که باعث می‌شد خودت رو در یکسری نبودن ببینی که دیگه دلیلی برای عدم وجودش نیست.

-"فکر کردم اگر او دیگر خبری از پدر و مادرش نمی‌گیرد برای این نیست که دلش برای آن‌ها تنگ نشده، به خاطر این است که می‌داند پرسیدن دیگر فایده‌ای ندارد. او پسر باهوشی است. می‌داند چطور بی‌حرکت دراز بکشد و منتظر بماند."

-"با خودم فکر کردم، به خودت فشار نیاور، عجله‌ای نیست، امشب دوباره برگرد، فردا شب دوباره برگرد. فرقی که نمی‌کند. چراغ خواب را خاموش کردم. نزدیک سپیده بود. آن نور قوی را که روی شهر می‌خزید فقط می‌توانستی از پنجره‌ی هتل‌ها ببینی. نور روی میدان مسابقه‌ی دو پخش شد، روی ساختمان دانشگاه، ساختمان مجلس، داشت به طرف قسمتی از شهر می‌رفت که زیاد با آن آشنایی نداشتم، منطقه‌ای که گاهی روی پیاده‌روهایش خون دیده می‌شد. یک دونده روی مسیر بیضی شکل میدان مسابقه می‌دوید، دور می‌زد و دور می‌زد و دور می‌زد. (زندگی چه‌قدر تکراری است) من بدون لباس جلوِ پنجره ایستاده بودم. با خودم فکر می‌کردم، دلیلی برای عصبانیت وجود ندارد، خواب به سراغت خواهد آمد، خواهد آمد، خواهد آمد."

[Celise · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has nothing to do with China, in case you're wondering. Not that anyone's wondering about this book anymore.

If you put books in a pile of books you want to get rid of, maybe don't casually pick them up and read a couple of pages. You might realize that there aren't very many pages, and on those pages there aren't very many words. You might quickly read the first 30 and think "Well I've made it this far, might as well finish". So you'll read the whole thing.

And then you'll be wondering if there were no other books published in Canada in 2005, because there's no way this won The Governor General's Award on its own merit, right? Especially given how many 3-star and 2-star reviews there are for it.

Well, here's another.

The protagonist is so unlikable and the objective is unclear. It doesn't really end, it just cuts off. It doesn't really begin, it just cuts in. I mean, it's not even about the guy's missing child really, is it? I kind of liked the basic writing style though.

[Hamid · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب "شبی عالی برای سفر به چین" برای من یادآور کامو (و البته از نظر سبک ، مودیانو) بود: ولگردی های ذهنیِ بی‌ پایانِ انسانی گم‌شده. تفاوت بیگانه‌ ی کامو با این اثر در این بود که شخصیت اصلی کامو و مودیانو بی‌نیاز از هیچ شوک یا ضربه‌ ی اولیه‌ ای روایت ذهنی را شروع می‌ کنند. گیلمور مانند مودیانو یا کامو هرگز سعی نمی‌ کند شخصیتش را داوری کند و به محک خوب یا بد بودن از نظر اجتماعی یا شخصی، بزند. بلکه به نظرِ من قصد دارد از راهِ پرسوناژِ اصلی، بی‌ مایگی و گمگشتگی جامعه و در‌کل بشر را نشان بدهد. برای من زیبایی کتاب در سبک روان و طنزآمیز اثر و همچنین سکون و بی‌تحرکی آن بود.

[Negar · Rating 3 out of 5]

من قبلا از این کتاب یه کتاب دیگه ای خونده بدم که عشق به یه پسر بچه رو به تصویر کشیده بود.به همین دلیل زیاد این قسمت از کتاب گیلمور برام جذاب به نظر نیومد ..اما سبک نویسنده برام جالب بود.یه جورایی "کامو" طوری بود.یه جورایی شبیه آدمایی مینویسه که تو اتاقشون پوستر آل پاچینو دارن.
از این ولگردی ها ،از این بی هدف بودن ،از این رهایی خاص خوشم میومد.به نظرم یه مقدار غیر قابل امکانه برای مایی که تو این عصر زندگی میکنیم..اما شده برای چند لخظه که بتونی حسش کنی ، حس خوبی بهت دست میده !
اینکه راه بیفتی بری فرودگاه ،بدون هیچ تصمیم قبلی ،و فقط یه مقصد انتخاب کنی...

[Maryam · Rating 4 out of 5]

داشتن نثری ساده و روان و پر از احساساتی که به راحتی بیان شده بود، از ویژگی های اصلی کتاب بود.

[Mor‌TeZa · Rating 3 out of 5]

شبی عالی برای سفر به چین..

انتظارم از کتاب کمی بیش از این بود.
قلم نویسنده واقعا خوب بود ولی تم اصلی داستان که نگرانی ها و روان پریشی های یک پدر در اثر گم شدن پسرش بود خیلی به م نچسبید. ضمن این که هیچ جا به این خط سیر اصلی داستان اشاره ای نشده بود.
کتاب با این که کانادایی بود، اما بیش تر حال و هوای نزدیک به رمان های نوی فرانسه داشت، تا کتاب های نویسندگان آمریکای شمالی.
در مجموع خوب و خوشخوان بود، ولی فوق‌العاده نبود.
نمره واقعی من به کتاب سه و نیمه.

[Mohsenkhosro · Rating 5 out of 5]

شاید بهتر بود این کتاب را یک شبه بخوانم ! تا حس سفر کردن به چین آن هم در شبی عالی را داشته باشم !

هر چند "شبی عالی ..." با تغییر فضاها از توهمات به واقعیات و از واقعیات به توهمات به صورت آنی ، ابتدا کمی نامفهوم به نظر می رسد ، اما بعد از آنکه در چند قسمت نخست به این رویه عادت کنید چنان داستان روان میشود که حتما از خواندن آن و متوهم شدن به همراه تنها شخصیت و راوی داستان ، لذت خواهید برد...

به نظر نگارنده محترم! اشخاص زیر از این کتاب لذت بیشتر خواند برد!

بیماران روانی . آنهایی که ذهن بیمار دارند. آنها که خسته و درمانده و شکسته و ... هستند .

- بعد از خواندن این کتاب عادت همیشگی و البته قدیمی و منسوخ به سراغم آمد ، اینکه در خیابان راه بروم و سعی کنم پاهایم را روی خط سنگ فرش خیابان ها نگذارم و بین آنها بگذارم ! و مردم را ببینم و کمی هم در تاریکی خیابان اشک بریزم ...

[Pedram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drilling,sensational and outstanding.
An intellectual journey through labyrinth of a mind preoccupied with morbid visions.
The backfire of bitter old memories,the constant torment of an overactive imagination,and a life rushing to an ambigous appaling closure,all lead to the protagonist's self-destruction.
One of the best images in contemporary literature depicting the sense of apathy .A pathetic image of a depressed man who searches for redemption in hallucinations,But it seems even by altered perception, peace remains far out of his reach.

[Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

The GG's must have had slim pickings the year Gilmour won the award for this (very) short novel.

While I empathize with the protagonist, Roman, for losing his son due to bad timing, he does not come across as a likeable man. He is famous, but he has no friends. He is estranged from his wife. He does not give a shit about his job. The only two people important to him are his mother and his son - both departed from this world, and only to be found in a dream space resembling a French-speaking Caribbean Island. And Roman is so lonely. Why? That was the piece unanswered. Does Roman symbolize the loneliness and isolation that plagues our media crazed universe?

Roman drifts about the Toronto landscape in search of his son: into the home of an immigrant, into a graveyard, a lumberyard, an old coffeehouse, his TV studio, a church, a strip joint, a greasy spoon, hotels - no place or person leaves an imprint on him. He reminded me of Leopold Bloom walking the streets of Dublin, but at least old Leo kept his hands busy during his peregrinations. Roman even dumps the attractive woman trying to seduce him on the Caribbean Island (Heaven?) and embraces a bottle of tranquilizers instead. The only interesting character to me was the police investigator who mysteriously turns up everywhere and who is convinced that Roman has spirited away his own son. Has he?

I have difficulty with novels that do not offer hope. And Roman's trajectory is overtly hopeless; he can't even kill himself. Or does he?

Giving the author the benefit, that he indeed has written a hopeful story, albeit disguised from the understanding of us mortal plebes, I surmised in the end that Roman did indeed spirit his son away to the island via that immigrant chap who's house he invaded (at the end of the novel, wasn't Roman seen stepping through a door into a house on the island where he had just seen a little boy?), and by faking his death has foiled the cops and his wife who goes by the rather James Bond'ish name of M. Hey - if you write an open-ended novel, the reader will come up with a myriad possibilities! Maybe that was Gilmour's motive after all!

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

How I Came To Read This Book: It was nestled in my bookshelf from unknown origins. Likely the boyfriend read it for Can Lit in school.

The Plot: Roman is a self-absorbed TV host who makes the casual mistake of going out for a drink one night, only to return home to find his six-year-old missing. The rest of the book basically follows his mental and physical deterioration as he grapples with the immense, overpowering feeling of guilt that consumes him after his son's disappearance.

The Good & The Bad: This is one of those books where you can tell every word is meant to count for something - and indeed, it does have a rather compelling, chilling, haunted feeling to it. Even though Roman is kind of a d-bag, you also feel his self-awareness, the huge amount of blame that's crushing him, and the madness that is inescapable madness that's consuming every part of his life. In short, it's very well-written, particularly in terms of the dialogue, and the dream sequences were interesting and heartbreaking as opposed to distracting.

It got a little weird by the end...and the super ambiguous ending was a little grah! But overall this was an easy read with a very complicated, painful world rooted in reality.

The Bottom Line: A sad little book that will resonate with most for emotion, if not plot.

Anything Memorable?: Nope.

50-Book Challenge?: Book #20 in 2011.

[Maryam Malkian]

نصف شب بود که به خانه رسیدم. در اتاق خواب بسته بود. به اتاق مطالعه رفتم. دفترچه خاطراتم را بیرون کشیدم، آن را ورق زدم. تمام آن نوشته‌ها دربارهٔ زن‌ها بود، چه قدر تشنهٔ بدن‌‌هایشان بودم. مثل خاطرات مردی بودند که دچار بی‌نظمی در غذا خوردن باشد، مردی که نمی‌تواند جلو رویا‌هایش را در مورد شکلات و نان خامه‌ای بگیرد. حالم از خودم به هم خورد، از آن همه حماقت، فقدان آینده نگری. اما نمی‌توانستم دست از خواندن بردارم، نمی‌توانستم دفترچه را ببندم چون در تمام صفحاتش، وقتی آن‌ها را می‌نوشتم سایمون‌‌ همان نزدیکی بود. یا آن طرف سرسرا بود یا در وان حمام، و یا در تختش خوابیده بود، با خواندن آن صفحه‌ها لحظات و ساعت‌هایی را احساس می‌کردم که او به من نزدیک بود. حتا آن ورق‌ها را بو کردم. اما بوی کاغذ کهنه می‌دادند. به اتاق سایمون رفتم و لباس خوابش را که روی تخت پرت شده بود برداشتم و به صورتم گذاشتم...


برگرفته از کتاب «شبی عالی برای سفر به چین» نوشته دیوید گیلمور ترجمه می‌چکا سرمدی

[ZaRi]

روی كاناپه دراز كشيده بودم و در شگفت بودم كه آن چه جور نوری است، در واقع به جای آنكه ملايم باشد نوری خشن بود. امكان نداشت بتوانی توضيح بدهی كه يك نوع از نور خورشيد چقدر افسرده ات می كند و باعث می شود صدايت چقدر عجيب و غريب به گوش ديگران برسد. او ادعا می كند نور خورشيد افسرده اش می كند، نه، فقط نوع خاصی از نور خورشيد او را افسرده می كند. چه تنهايی مطلقی، همه چيز در تنهايی مطلق است. بگذار بی پرده بگويم چه آسايشی است كه همه ی اينها را ول كنی تا از تمام اضطرابها رها شوی. زيرا تنهايی يك احساس است، احساسی مثل آويزان بودن وزنه ای در ميان سينه ات. چرا بايد كسی بخواهد با نوك انگشتان خودش آن را بچسبد و محكم نگه دارد؟ ...!

[Bahar · Rating 3 out of 5]

یک شب برفی خانه را ترک ‌می‌کند و هنگامی که برمی‌گردد، پسر بچه‌اش‌، سایمون در خانه نیست و از آن پس دیگر پیدا نمی‌شود. در خیالاتش پرسه می‌زند و به شهر خیالی در جزایر کاراییب می‌رود، جایی که در خیال او‌ مرده ها آنجا زندگی می‌کنند. در یکی از خیالاتش پسرش را در آن شهر می‌یابد.

به یاد کتاب “در رویای بابل” افتادم که شخصیت اصلی درگیر اختلال روانشناختی‌ای به نام maladaptive daydreaming بود.

[Caleigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the reviews on the book jacket of A Perfect Night to Go to China and most of them I completely disagree with. I didn't find it "luminous" or "refreshing" in the slightest. I agree that the "spare and darkly funny" style made it an "uncomfortably pleasurable read", but I won't say that's entirely a compliment.

I think that my first issue with the book is the premise that a young boy is kidnapped while his father goes to a bar and has several drinks. I realize this is key to later events - like the mother's inability to forgive her husband - but it also made Roman an unsympathetic character and I had a hard time caring whether he lived or died. Again, that was probably the point, but I would also say it negatively affected my reading experience. I felt detached the entire way through.

I'm not sorry that I read this book, but I'm very glad that - at 179 small pages - it was really more of a novella. IMO it could have been turned into an excellent full-length novel by changing just a couple of minor things. Like the beginning and the ending. No big whoop.

[Chelsea · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the most disgusting pieces of misogynistic literature that I have ever read. What makes it more ironic (or absolutely horrifying) is that the author dedicated it to his own wife. His wife!!! When the protagonist is so full of vitriol towards his wife after their son goes missing (on his watch) that all they do is viciously fight. He tells her to kill herself. He doesn't even give her a name for the entire novel - only refers to her occasionally as "M." In fact, most of the women in this novel are not even worthy of a name. They are called things like "the woman wearing lipstick" and "the German girl." Their bodies are visually dissected. A woman in her 60s is described as having an "ample bosom". He comments on their hair, their breasts, their skin, their lips, their bone structure. Criticizes their vapid stupidity and mindlessness. He says things like "His girlfriend followed him out, looking down, a dumb beast of a creature." (page 75); "There was a new makeup girl, an empty-headed chatterbox who stabbed at my face with her eyebrow pencil as if she were a pointillist." (page 109); "Showing off her crisis-solving virtues, the little cunt." (page 115). Does Gilmour just hate women? Is this style even necessary for a story about a man who descends into psychosis after his young son disappears? The novel barely examines the son's disappearance and there is no resolution. The protagonist is narcissistic and utterly absorbed within himself. How did this win Canada's Governor General's Literary Award in 2005? It's appalling. I am affronted that this was gifted to me by my father, but also thankful that it has been hidden beneath my massive stacks of TBR literature from the time I received it at 14 years old. A 14 child should not be reading this book. Even at 31, I should not be reading this book. (Did my father read it before giving it to me? Perhaps. His gifts were never appropriate for children. I would like to believe he didn't though.) At least I can cross it off and toss it from the pile. At least I now know.

[Jim Puskas · Rating 1 out of 5]

David Gilmour, you need help! Either you've yet to regain your personal equilibrium after having endured an emotionally abusive relationship or you're under the misapprehension that readers are apt to identify with a protagonist who is preoccupied with being a victim. Have you actually experienced a marriage gone so badly wrong as that of your protagonist, Roman? His wife's degree of venom is almost beyond belief -- passages such as "I must have been pretty arrogant back then .. when I met you .. because I believed that no one could wreck my life" or "Why don't you kill yourself?" It's interesting that you only identify the wife as "M".
And how could you then dedicate this diatribe to your own wife??
Faced with a life crisis, the unexplained disappearance of his six year old son, Roman retreats into a dream world of fantasy, wandering the streets, his behavior becoming increasingly bizarre; no wonder the police suspect him of having orchestrated his child's disappearance. Where is his rage, his grief, his desperation at the lack of progress in the investigation?
I don't buy it, Mr. Gilmour.
The GG Award people blew it.

[Katherine Krige · Rating 2 out of 5]

Guilt is an awful thing and in this case, wrought extensive psychological harm to Roman, the main character in Gilmour's book. While beating yourself up over a wrong deed done can be a natural reaction, I have to admit that I didn't have an awful lot of sympathy for him. Roman is painted as self-centred and self-serving throughout the book. He doesn't care about anyone's feelings or heed anyone's advice. And ultimately self-sabotages his life because of it.

Is this book worthy of a GG? I don't know if I would have awarded it, but who am I to judge? We all make mistakes in life. Life happens. Some of the wisest words in the book come from the lipsticked woman at customs who implores Roman to remember that life will look completely different in five years. That is so often true. And made me shake my head, when that nugget was cast aside out of hand.

Remember that when your life feels at its lowest friends!

[Emi Yoshida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roman the self-centered television "personality" hosting a mid-day magazine format program. As the story begins, the mother of his child is away on business and because he wants to, Roman ventures out in the middle of the night for a drink or three. When he returns, Simon his 6-year old son is gone; police interview neighbors who report having seen the boy, outside barefoot in the snow calling for his daddy. This book tells the story of the ensuing days and months, as hope turns to dread, lucidity vanishes, and all semblance of normal life crumbles for all involved. It is astonishing, that David Gilmour is able to make this morbid premise into such a colorful, engaging read.

The only fault I found is that the boy on the cover sports a crewcut, while Simon's hair was said to be long and very blond.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to become very irritated by David Gilmour's books. It seemed like he couldn't write about anything besides his obsession with sex and (usually much younger) women. This was only exacerbated by his appearances on TV, hosting shows about the arts, where i found out he was also arrogant and self-obsessed. He also used to overuse these two words - 'adore' and conversely 'loathe'. BUT. Maybe aging his done him good. His last two books, the one about watching movies with his son and this one, have really taken a turn. This one is about the disappearance of a six year old boy from the point of view of his father. Believable, readable, beautifully written, a real page turner.

[Paulapenkala · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that it is bad. it just does not have much memorable about it and there are so many i prefer.

[Valerie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just awful.

[Lori Desrosiers · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't get it. I'm actually surprised I finished it but I kept thinking it will make sense in the end. It did not.

[Csaba · Rating 2 out of 5]

A weird little book (can be read in a night or two), that left me with conflicting feelings. While the subject matter, tone and ideas are intriguing, the writing in places is so tedious I wanted to scream at it, to just get it over already. Difficult to recommend, as it is rather poorly written, but at the same time I have the feeling that the poor writing is actually a storytelling tool here, to properly shift the reader into the first-person view of the main character (i.e. the poor writing reflects this man's poor grasp of reality).

I often wondered whether the bad writing was intentional maybe, as there are plenty of nice sections... Perhaps it is meant to be illustrative of the shallowness and retardation of the main character.

The subject matter at least, in suicide, is interesting. There are slight glimpses of existential dread boiling under the shallow, stupid dialogue and monologue - again I'm wondering whether this is intentional or not. How suicidal thoughts are slowly expanded and explained here also reminded me of some of the dialogue from the excellent movie, The Sunset Limited (go watch that if existential crises interest you): there is a comparison drawn between the Professor's well-constructed ideas on the futility of existence ("them elegant reasons"), and the regular chumps', hanging from the steam pipes after some trivial life event. Well, it is safe to say our dear, retarded main character doesn't have any of those well-thought out, elegant reasons for suicide. He loses one thing tethering him to life, and just goes into a death spiral while being a shitty human being.

If you find it dirt cheap somewhere, or at the library, go ahead and read it. It is short, the perspective shift might be a useful "provoker of thoughts".

[Tom Gray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thu is is a quick and entertaining read about a a man consumed with self-loathing and self-destructive impulses. The protagonist has a job as an interviewer on a noon time television program in Toronto. One night he leaves his apartment where his 6 year old son is sleeping to got to a bar down the street for a beer which becomes three beers. He decides to stay there to with a tough girl rock band. He arrives home to find his son missing.

The rest of the novel is an account of how a self-loathing self-destructive individual deals with a great loss. He has dream fantasies of finding he son in heaven but his primary reaction is that of anger at the world. No one can react properly to his loss and he is aggrieved with everyone. .

The novel is a quick read. At one point in teh novel, teh protagonists recounts that because of his job on television, he is often asked to hear people's CD's read their novels etc. He find most of these novels trite with a common plot being some person moving through difficulties to find redemption. This novel is about someone moving through difficulties to find self-destruction. The protagonist found the novels presented to him as trite. Whether or not this novel is trite or does have the quality to win the Governor General's Award for 2005 is a question.

Personally, I have read much better novels. This one would be a quick airplane rad for me. I read it in a few hours. I enjoyed it but it is not something that I will remember for long. I must be missing something.

[هانیه · Rating 2 out of 5]

در واقع کامل نخوندم و فقط زده‌م مطالعه شده که بتونم ریویو بنویسم:)
داستان پدر و مادریه که فرزندشون دزدیده میشه یا گم میشه یا نمی‌دونم چی، چون تا جایی که من خوندم در واقع هنوز مشخص نشده چه بلایی سرش اومده.
من فرصت کمی به کتاب دادم و تا جایی که فرصت دادم نویسنده متمرکزه روی توصیف احساسات پدره و همین احساسات رو به نظر من اصلا خوب بازتاب نمیده، قابل باور نیست برای من و به خاطر همین هم باهاش ارتباط نمی‌گیرم.
مثلا میره سر و کار و میاد و اتفاقا درگیر هم هست با خودش سر این منتها ببین درگیریش رو چطوری میگه:
«شاید می‌بایست کارم را ول می‌کردم اما واقعیت این است که نمی‌دانستم تمام روز بدون شغل چه کار باید بکنم. صبح، بعد از ظهر یا عصر روز بعد یا ماه بعد یا سال‌های بعد، چه کار می‌توانستم بکنم. فکر کردن درباره آن همه زمان فلج کننده بود»

وا! چرا اصلا به این اشاره نکرد که شاید تا اون موقع بچه‌ش پیدا شده باشه؟ چرا فقط به این اشاره می‌کنه که نمی‌دونم باید چی کار کنم؟ اصلا این دلیل خیلی از کارمندهاست برای رها نکردن کارشون بدون این که بچه‌شون دزدیده شده باشه:)
یکی از دلایلی که احساساتش برای مخاطب غیرواقعیه هم اینه که معلوم نیست نویسنده با عنصر زمان داره چی کار می‌کنه، یهو زمان رو عوض می‌کنه و معلوم نیست الان یهو کی شد و چقدر گذشت و اینا.
به همین دلیل بازیش با زمان (شایدم مسخره‌بازیش) داستان رو گم می‌کنم و از این داستان‌هاییه که نیاز به تمرکز زیادی دارم برای داستانی که اتفاقا پیچیده هم نیست:)
این شد که دیگه ادامه نمی‌دم و رها می‌کنم گیلمور جون رو:)

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this at a library discard giveaway. It is an unusual book. Maybe even disturbing. I was not keen on a few things I wont detail so as not to spoil. The writing itself however, how it is laid out, was admittedly good. The imagery was something to experience, the absurdities verging on comical, I laughed quite a few times. I sure was rooting for the main character, and didn't put the book down.
After reading it and finding out more about this author and wondering how he could write such a thing without having been in this situation himself, well, I'll bet he has felt exactly how the main character feels at times. It sounds like he might be a bit of an unhappy person who has made some big mistakes. If so, he certainly wouldn't be alone in that. I would like to know more about why or how this book won the 2005 GG award. Despite being kind of engrossing, there seems to be a few big reasons it shouldn't have. I even thought about throwing it in the trash, to try to make the world a better place. But I guess, in the end, I don't believe in censorship. And it clearly had an effect on me. Why? Positive or negative effect I can't seem to tell. Why did the library discard it?

Maybe some stories should be told just the way they are, not the way we want them to be. That must be the answer to my questions.

[Parandin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Immersive experience with the plot and the descriptions .
Beautiful use of language and figures of speech.
"Unreliable narrator" at its best.
Got me overthinking through the night trying to connect all the dots and doing a whole Sherlock show but alas the story was too artistic and mysterious to give us any determined and upfront answers ,And as much as it annoys me I loved it.
There were soooo many subliminal hints from the very first page that ironically didn't exactly lead to any ends but made you wonder and it served as perfect means to convey the melancholic feeling of the boundaries of dream and reality fading ,Roman's grieving .
The Escapism in the last few chapters was too good to be true. It made Death sound like "a world where roses bloom".

PS: isn't "going to China" slang for picking up a fight? Maybe not in Canada🤷
But anyhow the name choice was also brilliant.

[Gjurgica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I cried my heart out while reading this book. I felt all the pangs of the loss of a child on my own skin even though I myself have none. Surely enough, this means the author has reached his goal by touching the soul of the reader.
However, I felt like some parts of the story were unclear and incoherent enough. The story went in a completely different direction than what I expected at the beginning.
Nonetheless, it's a nice and fast read, but warning: if you are an anxious parent, do yourself a favour and do not read this book. It will mess with your already concerned head.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young father leaves his young son to go down the street to the bar. After about fifteen minutes, he thinks but two, maybe three beers, he returns home to find his son gone. His wife is out of the country. The rest of the book covers the man’s downfall as the search for his son continues. An interesting book, one we read for our book club. Will be interesting to hear what our members have to say about this one!