The Silver Linings Play Book
Monday, 15 March 2010
In his debut novel, The Silver Linings Play Book, Matthew Quick shows courage in taking on the issue of mental health. The story is told in the first person by Pat, a twenty-something man who has spent some time in a mental institution for a reason we don’t discover until near the end of the book. One reviewer describes the novel as ‘a captivating, life-affirming read, guaranteed to be the feel good book of the year’. Considering the subject matter this seemed a bit unlikely but I was willing to be proved wrong so I decided to give it a try…..
Life, Love & Baggage
The story starts with Pat being visited by his Mum in the bad place, the expression he uses to describe some form of treatment centre where he is being detained. On the promise of good behaviour and faithful adherence to his medication, Pat is soon back at his family home and the adventure begins in earnest.
The story involves an impressive array of subject matter, including more standard fare like love, romance and family, but stretching to football fanaticism, literature and music, all told in Pat’s disarming yet disturbing narrative. There is also a strong cast of supporting characters, each with their own baggage to deal with at the same time as interacting with Pat.
Self Improvement and Sport Relief
Pat believes that he’s living in apart time, a period between being separated from and reunited with his wife, and most of his activity is aimed at preparing himself for the end of this unhappy stage of his life. He has a fitness regime to get himself into shape, he works with his therapist to make himself a better person and he studies some of his wife’s favourite books so that he can share her interest.
One area of Pat’s life not directly linked to his hopes of reconciliation with his wife is his passion for a local NFL team, a passion he shares with his father, his brother, his friends and his therapist Cliff. This shared passion leads to the occasional defrosting of his relationship with his father, as well as an unwelcome outbreak of violence and some bizarre chanting during his therapy sessions.
The Bell Jar Fails the Silver Linings Test
Pat’s world view is shaped around having a positive outlook on life and he judges the books which he reads on the happiness of the endings rather than the literary style or quality. Unsurprisingly, he isn’t that impressed by The Bell Jar, which ends up torn in half and thrown at the bedroom wall. In fairness to Sylvia Plath, Fitzgerald and Hemingway come off little better.
Despite Pat’s determination to end apart time, he is pursued by another woman, Tiffany, with whom he develops a very strange relationship based around silent jogging, intimate bowls of cereal for two at a local diner and some preparation for a dance competition.
Haunted by a Sax Offender
For reasons which might differ from the rest of us, Pat is tortured by the music of Kenny G, who visits him in nightmare alto sax attacks. I know, it sounds crazy, but you’ll just have to take my word for it that it all makes sense – of a kind - in the end.
That reviewer was right. The Silver Linings Play Book is indeed both a life-affirming and a feel good book. It made me laugh out loud and it made me cry. It made me think how often I judge others by their outward behaviour without knowing their stories. It made me quite desperate for it all to work out the way Pat wanted it to. It’s up there with The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Give it a go.
LINKED ARTICLES ON TAKE THE RED PILL
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
