Book Review of The Autodidacts by Thomas Kendall

 

Name of Book: The autodidacts 

Author: Thomas Kendall 

ISBN: 978-1-952600-18-0

Publisher: Whiskey Tit 

Type of book: complex, 1980s, 1990s, symmetry, love triangle, mental, life, England, teenagers, drugs, underachievers, holding back 

Year it was published: 2022

Summary:

A man mysteriously disappears in a lighthouse, as if dissolved by light, leaving behind a notebook filled with bizarre claims of a curse and a series of drawings entitled 'The Death of the Jubilant Child.' The investigation into the disappearance unearths hidden connections between the disappeared man, Helene and the strange figure of the Man With The Forks In His Fingers. Fifteen years later, the discovery of the detective's copy of the notebook by Helene's daughter seems to set in motion a repetition of the events of the past.

Circuitously structured and intensely lyrical, The Autodidacts explores the mythos of friendship, the necessity of failure, the duty of imagination, and the dreams of working class lives demanding to be beautiful. It is a prayer in denial of its heresy, a metafictional-roman-a-clef trying to maintain its concealment, and an attempt to love that shows its workings out in the margins of its construction.

Characters:

The first half of the story deals with a mysterious man who is an artist, a woman who has recently given birth to a daughter, her husband who seems to have issues with stomach and a mysterious man who has forks and spoons on his hand. There is also the cleaner and her family, two sons and a missing husband. The second part jumps to ten years later and focuses on the daughter, the cleaner's son, the son's best friend and more on cleaner and the husband. The characters, I should mention are seen through actions rather than quality or personalities. 

Theme:

Look for symmetry, history doesn't repeat but rhymes

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative from what seems to be everyone's point of view. I am a reader who love short chapters, so I should mention that the chapters are extremely long. There is definite focus on both everyday matters as well as philosophy and intellectual matters. There is definitely connection and symmetry between the two time periods and Part Two expounds a lot on the ideas that are presented in Part One. I am also quite often reminded of a Russian movie I watched for class which deals with war and symbolism and there is interpretation on whether the film is a story or not, which this book reminded me a lot. (The movie uses Russian poetry...) 

Author Information:

Opinion:

I love literary stories, love the complexity within complexity, but at the same time I want to hold on to familiar, to tangible, or to find patterns and similarities. While the tale is highly literary, I felt as if I was only grasping at straws rather than branches that are capable of supporting my weight. There is definitely a symmetry to the two narratives as well as repetition in terms of romantic issues. At the same time though, there is a question of whether or not am I understanding the tale correctly? The first part discusses at least two families and a few individuals; it focuses on unrequited love between a married woman and an artist as well as things that come between them. It also sets up the stage for later part by going into the servant family's misfortunes and troubles. While Part One focuses on 1980s, Part Two jumps to 1990s and focuses on the second generation. There is definitely a symmetry, and it definitely needs a re-read because I sense a deeper story underneath the carefully layered words. 

This was given for review

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)