The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey - Revision history

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2020-08-10T14:31:17Z

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2014-12-16T15:35:04Z

Sue at 16:05, 28 November 2012

2012-11-28T16:05:59Z

Sue at 13:38, 24 December 2009

2009-12-24T13:38:26Z

Keith: 1 revision

2009-10-24T17:35:12Z

1 revision

Keith at 14:45, 26 August 2009

2009-08-26T14:45:29Z

New review

{{infoboxsort
|title=The Wilderness
|author=Samantha Harvey
|reviewer=Ruth Price
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=This impressive debut novel by Samantha Harvey tracks the progress of a protagonist with Alzheimer's disease. It's a demanding and troubling read but reaps rewards for readers prepared to give it their attention.
|rating=4
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|format=Paperback
|pages=336
|publisher= Jonathan Cape Ltd
|date=April 2009
|isbn=978-0224089685
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224089684</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>0224089684</amazonus>
|sort=Wilderness
}}

Apparently, Alzheimer's is the disease people fear the most – more than cancer or heart disease. Without our brains functioning normally, without our memories, we must be nothing – or are we?

Samantha Harvey's debut novel opens with its protagonist, Jake (a former architect now unable to draw a triangle) in a plane on a flight for his 60th birthday – a present from his son. At this stage, Jake's Alzheimer's is already considerably advanced, and his reactions and recollections on the flight set the tone for the rest of the novel. The closing chapter takes place about four years later, on a family outing to London Zoo, when we explore a photograph album and compare the images with Jake's unreliable memories.

Although it was worth it, I did struggle reading this novel. As much as it's Jake's story, it is a more general exploration of the nature and fickleness of memory; Jake's recollections of events in his life are muddied and confused - they contrast with other people's contradictory accounts, notably his exasperated carer, who bereaves him before his death. Did Jake knock over his dog, or was it his friend/carer/lover Eleanor? Did Jake's wife die of a stroke or fall from the cherry tree? Is his daughter pregnant and his son in prison? Why didn't he build his dream house? Was the money for it stolen or given away? The reader does need to concentrate to follow the novel's convoluted path, but the rewards of Harvey's writing are considerable.

I didn't particularly like Jake at first – he seems cold and difficult, though I could just be being prejudiced against his love of concrete and high-rise carbuncles in architecture. His character becomes more sympathetic as his condition deteriorates – I first found myself truly gripped when he gets lost while walking his dog, and has to be brought home by the police, recognising his own vulnerability. The narrative floats between the past and the present, with Jake's visits to his psychiatrist, who charts his Alzheimer's, as linear markers in this trip around and about Jake's deteriorating brain. The final chapters are truly touching – I can't call the outcome uplifting, but it is calm, if very sad. Mind you, I always cry at the bit in 2001: A Space Odyssey when HAL the computer regresses to singing a nursery rhyme when his 'brain' is shut down…

This novel certainly gives its readers food for thought; I wondered if Harvey, who shows considerable skill in her writing, could have had Jake's thoughts in the first person, as an unreliable narrator? We are practically inside his head much of the time, and even a little of Jake speaking his inner thoughts for himself would have been interesting. Samantha Harvey was incredibly brave to tackle this difficult subject in her first novel, and with such aplomb, and it will be interesting to see her future output.

For further reading, the novel [[The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean]] explores a similar deterioration of the mind, and was much liked by Bookbag's reviewer. For the science behind Alzheimer's and more, Bookbag liked [[In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind by Eric R Kandel]].

{{amazontext|amazon=0224089684}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=6749957}}

{{toptentext|list=Orange Prize for Fiction 2009}}

{{toptentext|list=Man Booker Prize 2009}}

{{commenthead}}
[[Category:Literary Fiction]]

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 Samantha Harvey's debut novel opens with its protagonist, Jake (a former architect now unable to draw a triangle) in a plane on a flight for his 60th birthday – a present from his son. At this stage, Jake's Alzheimer's is already considerably advanced, and his reactions and recollections on the flight set the tone for the rest of the novel. The closing chapter takes place about four years later, on a family outing to London Zoo, when we explore a photograph album and compare the images with Jake's unreliable memories.
-Although it was worth it, I did struggle reading this novel. As much as it's Jake's story, it is a more general exploration of the nature and fickleness of memory; Jake's recollections of events in his life are muddied and confused - they contrast with other people's contradictory accounts, notably his exasperated carer, who bereaves him before his death. Did Jake knock over his dog, or was it his friend/carer/lover Eleanor? Did Jake's wife die of a stroke or fall from the cherry tree? Is his daughter pregnant and his son in prison? Why didn't he build his dream house? Was the money for it stolen or given away? The reader does need to concentrate to follow the novel's convoluted path, but the rewards of Harvey's writing are considerable.
+Although it was worth it, I did struggle reading this novel. As much as it's Jake's story, it is a more general exploration of the nature and fickleness of memory; Jake's recollections of events in his life are muddied and confused - they contrast with other people's contradictory accounts, notably his exasperated carer, who bereaves him before his death. Did Jake knock over his dog, or was it his friend/carer/lover, Eleanor? Did Jake's wife die of a stroke or fall from the cherry tree? Is his daughter pregnant and his son in prison? Why didn't he build his dream house? Was the money for it stolen or given away? The reader does need to concentrate to follow the novel's convoluted path, but the rewards of Harvey's writing are considerable.
 I didn't particularly like Jake at first – he seems cold and difficult, though I could just be being prejudiced against his love of concrete and high-rise carbuncles in architecture. His character becomes more sympathetic as his condition deteriorates – I first found myself truly gripped when he gets lost while walking his dog, and has to be brought home by the police, recognising his own vulnerability. The narrative floats between the past and the present, with Jake's visits to his psychiatrist, who charts his Alzheimer's, as linear markers in this trip around and about Jake's deteriorating brain. The final chapters are truly touching – I can't call the outcome uplifting, but it is calm, if very sad. Mind you, I always cry at the bit in 2001: A Space Odyssey when HAL the computer regresses to singing a nursery rhyme when his 'brain' is shut down…
@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
-For further reading, the novel [[The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean]] explores a similar deterioration of the mind, and was much liked by Bookbag's reviewer. For the science behind Alzheimer's and more, Bookbag liked [[In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind by Eric R Kandel]].
+For further reading, the novel [[The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean]] explores a similar deterioration of the mind and was much liked by Bookbag's reviewer. For the science behind Alzheimer's and more, Bookbag liked [[In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind by Eric R Kandel]].  We've also enjoyed [[All is Song by Samantha Harvey]].
 {{amazontext|amazon=0099526530}}

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{infoboxsort
+{{infobox1
 |title=The Wilderness
 |author=Samantha Harvey
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 |date=February 2010
 |isbn=978-0099526537
 |sort=Wilderness
 }}

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 |buy=Maybe
 |borrow=Yes
 |pages=336
 |publisher= Vintage
@@ Line 32: / Line 31: @@
 For further reading, the novel [[The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean]] explores a similar deterioration of the mind, and was much liked by Bookbag's reviewer. For the science behind Alzheimer's and more, Bookbag liked [[In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind by Eric R Kandel]].
 {{amazontext|amazon=0099526530}}
-{{amazontext|amazon=0099526530}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=6749957}}
+{{amazonUStext|amazon=0224089684}}
 {{toptentext|list=Orange Prize for Fiction 2009}}

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 |format=Paperback
 |pages=336
-|publisher= Jonathan Cape Ltd
+|publisher= Vintage
-|date=April 2009
+|date=February 2010
-|isbn=978-0224089685
+|isbn=978-0099526537
-|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224089684</amazonuk>
+|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099526530</amazonuk>
 |amazonus=<amazonus>0224089684</amazonus>
 |sort=Wilderness
@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 I didn't particularly like Jake at first – he seems cold and difficult, though I could just be being prejudiced against his love of concrete and high-rise carbuncles in architecture. His character becomes more sympathetic as his condition deteriorates – I first found myself truly gripped when he gets lost while walking his dog, and has to be brought home by the police, recognising his own vulnerability. The narrative floats between the past and the present, with Jake's visits to his psychiatrist, who charts his Alzheimer's, as linear markers in this trip around and about Jake's deteriorating brain. The final chapters are truly touching – I can't call the outcome uplifting, but it is calm, if very sad. Mind you, I always cry at the bit in 2001: A Space Odyssey when HAL the computer regresses to singing a nursery rhyme when his 'brain' is shut down…
 This novel certainly gives its readers food for thought; I wondered if Harvey, who shows considerable skill in her writing, could have had Jake's thoughts in the first person, as an unreliable narrator? We are practically inside his head much of the time, and even a little of Jake speaking his inner thoughts for himself would have been interesting. Samantha Harvey was incredibly brave to tackle this difficult subject in her first novel, and with such aplomb, and it will be interesting to see her future output.
 For further reading, the novel [[The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean]] explores a similar deterioration of the mind, and was much liked by Bookbag's reviewer. For the science behind Alzheimer's and more, Bookbag liked [[In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind by Eric R Kandel]].
-{{amazontext|amazon=0224089684}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=6749957}}
+{{amazontext|amazon=0099526530}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=6749957}}
 {{toptentext|list=Orange Prize for Fiction 2009}}

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