"This is the Life"

“This is the Life” by Alex Shearer arrived the other day via the Goodreads First Reads program, and I was immediately leery due to the “The Fault in our Stars” comparison on the back cover.  My fear of more John Green-like drivel was almost instantly quelled, however, and I found this to be an absolutely wonderful, heartwarming, and often hilarious novel.

Set in Australia, this is the story of two brothers dealing with loss.  Cancer stricken Louis must deal with the loss of his memory, his health, his identity, his freedom, and ultimately his life.  His unnamed narrator brother comes from the United Kingdom to aid Louis through his final weeks and deals with the loss of his brother while reliving often uncomfortable memories from their past.

While this was an “easy read” – two sittings for me - I hesitate to use the phrase as too many do so derisively.  This was an easy read because the story was so tight and well written that I couldn’t put it down.  The author weaves an increasingly sad narrative with introspective musings on loss and the meaning of existence.

One set of passages particularly resonated with me and precipitated a wonderful discussion with my wife and youngest daughter about the value of shared memories:

“The rest of it was all in my head – once shared memories that I now shared with no one…There was nobody left to know.  There was no other witness to all those ordinary, familiar, banal, dramatic, mundane, extraordinary, devastating events…And so it must be with all lives, and all those who survive for a while longer.  All our importances that mean so little to others – and all their recollections, so similar to our own, and yet which barely touch us, except in their evocation.”

 This is a substantial and sad novel of loyalty, family and loss, not to be so easily dismissed or (hopefully) lumped together with the works of John Green.  I highly recommend this book and intend to search out some of Mr. Shearer’s earlier works that somehow escaped me.