A review by thebobsphere
Glitch by Lee Rourke
3.0
Glitch : a sudden, usually temporary malfunction or fault of equipment.
Although I NEVER have any preconceptions before I read a book, I let my guard down with Glitch. For some strange reason I was expecting a sci-fi novel involving time travel.
Glitch is DEFINITELY not that.
The novel is about death but does revolve around the concept of glitches.
L-J has worked in the U.S. for over 20 years and due to a hand injury is returning to his birthplace, England. On the plane he starts to notice that there’s a glitch in the film they are showing ( which is Sorrentino’s The Consequences of Love – a fantastic movie) shortly after the plane suffers from decompression, another glitch.
From then we readers realise that glitches occur in L-J’s life. These range from tiny ones like the airline film to serious ones like his relationship with his sister Ellie, which has been severed.
L-J finds out that his mother is dying from throat cancer and while he visits her he is reminded of the glitches which appeared in his childhood. The most notable one is discovering amber on a beach (technically one can say that amber is a sort glitch of nature) and a glitchy memory of his sister hurting him when he was a baby.
Eventually another event helps L-J encounter his glitches and makes him see them in a new light.
I didn’t mind Glitch. It’s quirky but drives it’s inner message deeply. There are many tender, emotional moments and I liked the way Rourke managed to keep the book together. I cannot say though, that I embraced this novel. At times I found the writing a bit clinical (except the conclusion, that broke my heart) and I had trouble investing myself in the story. So there were mixed feelings. It still is a brave book and an original way at looking at death but I’m not sure it works that well.
Although I NEVER have any preconceptions before I read a book, I let my guard down with Glitch. For some strange reason I was expecting a sci-fi novel involving time travel.
Glitch is DEFINITELY not that.
The novel is about death but does revolve around the concept of glitches.
L-J has worked in the U.S. for over 20 years and due to a hand injury is returning to his birthplace, England. On the plane he starts to notice that there’s a glitch in the film they are showing ( which is Sorrentino’s The Consequences of Love – a fantastic movie) shortly after the plane suffers from decompression, another glitch.
From then we readers realise that glitches occur in L-J’s life. These range from tiny ones like the airline film to serious ones like his relationship with his sister Ellie, which has been severed.
L-J finds out that his mother is dying from throat cancer and while he visits her he is reminded of the glitches which appeared in his childhood. The most notable one is discovering amber on a beach (technically one can say that amber is a sort glitch of nature) and a glitchy memory of his sister hurting him when he was a baby.
Eventually another event helps L-J encounter his glitches and makes him see them in a new light.
I didn’t mind Glitch. It’s quirky but drives it’s inner message deeply. There are many tender, emotional moments and I liked the way Rourke managed to keep the book together. I cannot say though, that I embraced this novel. At times I found the writing a bit clinical (except the conclusion, that broke my heart) and I had trouble investing myself in the story. So there were mixed feelings. It still is a brave book and an original way at looking at death but I’m not sure it works that well.