G1079 Book Review of The End of Loneliness by Benedict Wells
Author: Benedict Wells
ISBN: 978-0-14-313400-8
Publisher: Penguin
Type of book: Memory, 1980-2014, Europe, Germany, boarding schools, young love, siblings, friendship, relationships, hidden secrets, talents, coping, traveling, first love
Year it was published: 2019
Summary:
Marty, Liz and Jules' idyllic childhood with their loving parents in Munich is shattered by the death of their parents in a car crash, and their charmed life is exchanged for a bleak state boarding school.
As the three deal with the death of their parents in very different ways, they become estranged from one another; Marty focussing on his career; Liz turning to different forms of escapision; and Jules turning from a vivacious child to a quiet, withdrawn teenager. Whilst at boarding school he meets the mysterious and charming Alva - but he will only realise years later what she means to him; and what she has never told him. Just as it seems that they can make amends for the time wasted, the past catches up with them...
Told episodically through the fractured lives of the siblings, The End of Loneliness is a heartfelt, enriching novel about loss, loneliness, family and love.
Characters:
Main character includes Jules Moreau, a half German half French young man and youngest sibling of Marty and Liz. Jules is best described as introverted, someone who is observant and guards himself carefully. He also desires to secretly write but often finds life interfering with his dreams. Marty is Jules's older brother and he is intelligent, thinks ahead and often very brunt. Liz is Jules's eldest sister and she tends to be a bit flaky, although she doesn't want to be, and is best described as a party girl who cannot stop herself from destroying herself, if it makes sense. There is also Alva, a girl about Jules's age who seems to be fascinated with Russian culture and wants to live in Russia as well as having obsession with reading and being determined to reach as high as she can.
Theme:
Is what we remember more important that what we forget?
Plot:
The story is told in first person narrative from Jules's point of view and often reads more like memories rather than a straight narrative. Immediately the audience learns that Jules has been in a motorcycle accident, and then the audience meets his elder siblings and narration of Jules's life leading up to the motorcycle accident begins: the author has a gift for capturing little moments of Jules's life and of how happy he was, he is also gifted in bringing out and attempting to explain taboo or advanced concepts of life, death and happiness as well as what responsibility we owe those around us. What I felt lacked in story is the character development of Jules's oldest sister Liz, who was a fascinating character and someone I wanted to know more about. The narrative also seems to skip years ahead and expects the reader to immediately pick up the start. There are elements of the story that I found predictable and knew how they will end, but other than that, I found it an intriguing story. Also for me, male characters are far more developed and well done than female characters.
Author Information:
(From the book)
Benedict Wells was born in 1984 in Munich. At the age of six, he started his journey through three Bavarian state boarding schools. Upon graduating, he moved to Berlin, where he decided against university education to concetrate on his writing. In 2016 he won the European Prize for Literature for his fourth novel, THE END OF LONELINESS, which remained on the German bestseller list for eighty weeks. After years of living in Barcelona, Wells has returned to Berlin.
Opinion:
When I usually read a book, the audience is typically in the front row, watching the main character(s); how they struggle, what lessons they learn and how they develop into themselves; maybe because this is a book that needs to be reread multiple times, but I didn't really sense this was the case with Jules Moreau. I sensed that the story was built on a deck of cards with no strong foundation holding up the cards. What I would expect from a typical novel wasn't delivered in this one; that is the focus is more on the present rather than the past, and mysterious history of Jules's parents is barely talked about. What I found myself loving when it came to the tale are the little moments captured in print between Jules and his family as well as when Jules finally finds his happiness and epiphanies he has regarding life and death and happiness.
This was given for a 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.)
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