Sarah's Library

19/12 - Pat's way of thinking reminds me, quite a bit, of the main character in There are Reasons Noah Packed No Clothes, which was set in the mental institution rather than after the character's release from it.

The fact that Pat constantly gives the return of Nikki as the reason for him practicing 'being nice rather than right' is disappointing and a bit foreboding. I foresee the revelation of where Nikki is and what she's really been doing all these years as being something that could completely reverse Pat's attitude on silver linings and bring out his more violent tendencies. If he has no other reason for becoming a nicer, better person and then suddenly loses that one reason (as I believe he's about to), what reason will he have to continue to be a nice person (at least on the outside, he's not particularly nice internally, it's just a front he's putting on in his attempt to get Nikki back)? I think that one of the main 'secrets' that his family and friends have been keeping from him will turn out to be that Nikki has divorced him in his absence and remarried. When Pat finally works this out I imagine there's going to be some kind of nuclear explosion that will land him back in 'the bad place'.

I'm not sure I understand how Pat can be so oblivious to the time that has passed while he was in 'the bad place', even if there weren't any calendars to help tell the months apart and they weren't showing the news (probably so the bad news didn't upset the more fragile patients), unless he had to be kept sedated in order to keep him calm and that made time pass without Pat even noticing. That would be an awful thing to find out - coming out of a mental institution thinking you've been gone a few months only to eventually find out that you've lost nearly four years of your life - it sounds like some kind of mental institution-themed horror movie. To be continued...

21/12 - On page 138 - I wonder what could be in the 'Pat box' that could upset Pat so much... Could it be divorce papers signed by his mother in his mental and physical absence? To be continued...

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!!

23/12 - Alright, so the divorce papers weren't in the 'Pat box', but I correctly picked that they existed at all. I was also pretty sure about the identity of the author of the letters Tiffany was giving to Pat due to the amount of compliments 'Nikki' was paying to Tiffany. I didn't think it rang true that Nikki, who hadn't previously been acquainted with Tiffany, would become quite so friendly with Tiffany simply through phone calls revolving around dictated letters to and from Pat.

I'm not sure that I could have forgiven Tiffany if I was in Pat's shoes. All the lies and sneaky tricks she pulled on Pat, that would permanently mar any relationship I'd had with this supposed friend. I may have been able to continue being in contact with them, but I don't think I'd ever be able to fully trust them again, especially not when it comes to a romantic relationship.

Now that I've read this I have more of a desire to see the movie. I thought this was 'above average', 3.5 stars nearing 4 and I'm feeling generous so I've marked it as 4. Considering that rating I don't know exactly why it (out of all the books published every year) was chosen to be turned into a movie. I look forward to seeing the movie in order to compare the two and see what led to so many nominations for the Oscars and the Golden Globes.