The Unnamed

Not long ago, after one of my walks, I was wondering, as I always do, if there could be any book on walking.

Call it a coincidence or more than a coincidence or name it by any, the next day I read a review of a novel on Newsweek.com. The novel is "The Unnamed" by Joshua Ferris.

After waiting for one whole month, I bought it in MPH, Kuching. Just done with the book. Tim, the protagonist, a lawyer, who has a partnership in a law firm, takes walks at the middle of his work, unpredictably, completely uncontrolled by himself, but by the "other". The novel is about him and the other. And the constant war between the two. The war is about mind over the body or otherwise.

Though it reminds me of "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, it differs in a great amount.  One commonality is the walk. The protoganist in The Road walks too, or to be specific, takes to the road, consciously. On a mission. It is a conscious act.  Whereas, in "The Unnamed", it was an uncontrolled act. Or should I say it is an unconscious act?

He tries his every bit to control the other. Takes medication, gets himself experimented with new technology,  gets him tied up with the bed. There are recessions in the walks. And few remissions. His returns to normality of life is only a for short time. All of a sudden, the disappearance followed with his backpack and his boots. Totally random! Eventually Jane and their daughter Becca are used with the sudden disappearance.

He is diagnosed with brain fog, and few unnamed disorders. He loses his fingers, his toes, develops all sorts sickness. His wife, Jane, was patient and loving enough to take him, and the other, as devoted, as patient as she could possibly be, takes all the stress. Whenever he finds himself lost in finding the direction, whenever he lost his mind and energy to walk back home, she goes pick him up, from wherever he is.  .

In the beginning, he dislikes the walks. He is afraid of the walks. It is an act thrust upon him.  By  the other. After a while it goes out of control, it seems, as if he is used with the walk.  Almost towards the end, he was lost with but desperation. In  a way, he allowed himself to be controlled. Here comes the art of allowing. How  good it is to allow oneself to be controlled by the any situation or circumstance? And for how long? (will be another blog soon on this)

Joshua takes us across America. Tim walks, walks, all over America, as if searching for something. Perhaps, yes. Searching for the real he. Is he (it) soul, mind, brain, or body? or all?

Can soul, brain, mind, body be one? Or many?  If the other (soul) is the embodiment of the mind, and mind is the abstract reflection of the brain, and brain is the particles, neurons and cells (body), then, it is one.(Monism). If soul and body (brain, mind) are misaligned, then they are many. (Dualism) The eternal quest of Tim.  The manifestation of one over the other.

The setting of the novel is very American Corporate Culture.  The language use is also contemporary corporate executives style.  Interesting.  No complex compound sentences. Mostly simple sentences with complex thoughts!

Ever since, Tim starts his first walk, I visualized an image, a tall, bit skinny, bit hunch, with glasses, but a strong figure. My visualization of the character could be the effect of Denzel Washington in The Book of Eli. But Denzel has a broad frame.

Almost towards the end; I was thinking, this could be produced into a movie. Who knows! And Denzel Washington will be the best choice for Tim. Not because I like him. But he will fit in a simple but complex character like this. In Tamil; perhaps, Kamal Hasan. Perfect to feed his hunger for challenging roles. The movie should have the combination of narration and conversations(is there any technical name for this?), as in Elegy, The Reader, and some other movies. (How I wish I could produce the movie!)

In future, there will be hundreds and hundreds of thesis on this novel;  The symbols (the Preacher - Tim's Conscience, his walks - family irresponsibility of American men/ younger generation) The character analysis and so on.

Perhaps the best book among my recent reads. Mind blowing and a heavy read. The thought pattern of the writer is amazing. Dr Noel told me that I should consider translating this in Tamil. Perhaps, I should.

Mind you, if you are not so much into philosophy or psychology, you might not find it interesting.
Some interesting lines from the book:
"Allow myself to hope again, when it's really only another opportunity to be disappointed?"
"but the cops didn't care for honest answers"
"vanity was a luxury of those exempt from the compromises of a long illness"
"her life was stripped down to the simplicity of self survival"
"risk it all for the sake of risk itself"
"he was trapped again in the next step, next step and next step"
"Intelligence has its limits. Knowledge cannot determine in its entirety the measure of man' soul"
" The world is too old. The soul is the mind is the brain is the body. I am you and you are it and it will always win" (the highlight)
" to be lost in writing was to be absorbed and to be absorbed was to lose awareness of everything"
(well, it is impossible to write the whole book) 

"I have learnt that I am me, that I can do the things that, as one might put it, me can do, but I cannot do the things that me would like to do." Agatha Christie (1890-1976)

The above quote was on my blog this morning, and I found that this has some connection to the core of the novel; the self and the other. Or perhaps I interpreted?