Changelog

I Know This Much Is True has been sitting in my pile for a few months now — my mom sent it to me to read after she got it from my aunt. My expectations weren’t particulalrly high, though I’m not sure why — but once I started reading I found it increasingly hard to put this book down (considering that the book is about 900 pages long, I had to force myself to put it down or I wouldn’t have gotten any work done).

The book is very much about schizophrenia, though mostly about the effect the disease can have on the family and friends of those who suffer from it. It’s also a really compelling story about two brothers growing up together in a home filled with anger and abuse. I highly reccomend this book (if you have some free time, or just happen to read very quickly). I’m a sucker for big sweeping novels that tell a character’s story from beginning to end (this is why I love John Irving), and I Know This Much Is True not only tells the story of Dominick and Thomas Birdsey, but even has a book-within-a-book telling the life story of their maternal grandfather, Dominick Tempesta.

I don’t have much experience with people who suffer schizophrenia, though I probably have more experience than most people, but I know in some small part the frustration that can come when dealing with someone whose reality isn’t quite aligned with your own. I don’t know if Wally Lamb wrote this book from personal experience or if he relied on research, but I wonder how it resonates with those who do live with, or care for, someone with schizophrenia.