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- ISBN:
- 9781922147264
- 9781922147264
- Category:
- Contemporary fiction
- Format:
- Paperback
- Publication Date:
- 25-09-2013
- Language:
- English
- Publisher:
- Text Publishing
- Country of origin:
- Australia
- Pages:
- 250
- Dimensions (mm):
- 234x153x19mm
- Weight:
- 0.35kg
This title is in stock with our Australian supplier and should arrive at our Sydney warehouse within 1-2 weeks of you placing an order.
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Reviews
4 Reviews
Written in a very laid back style, The Full Ridiculous by Mark Lamprell tickled my funny bone. The story involves a family dealing with events that could very easily happen to anyone of us. Dads descent into darkness is convincing but it is never too far from humour.
The satellite characters I can recognise within my own family and so I did enjoy this book
I enjoyed this novel very much. One of the main reasons was because all of the characters are flawed ... in their own special way. And this made the story seem incredibly real.
While out jogging one morning, Michael O'Dell is hit by a car. As he's lying on the ground realising he's still alive, he has an epiphany. The universe, he feels, has spared him for a reason. The universe must have something marvellous in store for him.
It certainly does, but sadly for Michael, what the universe has in store for him is not something nice. In fact, it seems that the universe desires to repeatedly batter him (and his family) with one nasty event after another. Quite understandably, Michael is soon in the depths of depression.
The narrative is in second person which means the reader must put themselves in O'Dell's shoes ("you" are hit by a car, "your" life is going down the drain.) While this feels a little weird at first, I soon got used to it, and found being in Michaels head, so to speak, drew me further into his life. I identified with Michael's often laugh out loud funny self-depreciating humour, his apathy and sorrow, all that much more.
Although there are a lot of heartbreaking moments in this book and many serious issues raised, theres stacks of comedy (sometimes pretty black), mainly driven by Michaels internal observations. The balance of the two works well you may find yourself crying on one page, then laughing on the next. Or both at the same time.
With the help of his family, health and mental health professionals, and at the end of it even the universe doing something nice for a change, Michael pulls himself back together, with a greater appreciation of all the wonderful things in life, with those he loves right at the front. The message this book gives is that its alright to fall apart, and that in putting yourself back together you can become stronger, wiser, and more appreciative of the important things in life.
This is an impressive debut, and Id pick up and further books from Lamprell without hesitation.
The Full Ridiculous is the first novel by Australian screenwriter and author, Mark Lamprell. Pleased to have survived being hit by a car, journalist Michael ODell leaves the hospital telling his wife, Wendy, that at least things cant get any worse. Famous last words, he later comes to realise, as his life unravels in a cascade of events that resembles a train wreck. Hes in pain and unable to muster up the will to work on his book, and Wendys job is the sole source of family income. Then daughter Rosie uncharacteristically uses violence to resolve a dispute and son Declan appears to be hiding drugs in his bedroom. As parent/teacher meetings loom and bills threaten, a weird police constable seems determined to persecute the family. This is a book about ordinary people doing ordinary things and having (mostly) ordinary things happen to them, but somehow it manages to strike a chord and be very funny into the bargain. The main character is imperfect, self-deprecating and easy to identify with. Youve been avoiding mirrors lately but you know if you looked youd find yourself doing an alarmingly accurate impersonation of an over-stuffed sausage. His worries and fears are common to many of us. Michaels observation on psychiatric questionnaires is particularly perceptive: On the inside you feel like a complex mass of intertwining disasters but maybe from the outside youre just a F**k-up Grade B with a degree of difficulty of zero point seven. Lamprell takes the unusual step of narrating this story in the second person: perhaps this is a side effect of being a screenwriter, and, while it takes a moment to get used to, it does work. Michaels inner monologue is clever, often hilarious, and occasionally quite stirring. This is a funny, thought-provoking and ultimately inspiring tale that will have the reader thinking about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, adoption, self-worth, suicide, peer pressure, unconditional love, self-delusion and hospital ceilings. An outstanding debut novel.
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