Hmm...
this book was our reading group choice last month, and I would say that my comments here are representative of members' views.
Before discussing content, a big negative, I'm afraid, is that much of the book was not well-written. Can't beat about the bush here! Sentences were often simplistic, and when they weren't, were often cliched and cringemaking, eg 'I expanded to fill the immense vista around me and suddenly the idea for this book blew into me.' The standard of prose did rise a little towards the end of the book, that is, the author seemed to get into his stride. It was not only poorly-written in a literary sense, but grammar was, in general, pretty dire, eg he often uses as subordinate clauses groups of words that should either be sentences in their own right, or separated from main clauses with semi-colons, not commas! He'd mix tenses within paragraphs/groups of paragraphs, which made for difficult reading. On a few occasions he'd use the wrong word, eg 'prostrate' for 'prostate'. Also, there is a lot of skipping about time-frames, and, while, sure, this is a common literary device, it was just too confusing - often we couldn't work out where in the character's life we were. Much of this is not the author's fault. There are some great authors who rely heavily on sub-editors. But, in 'The Healer', the sub-editing and/or proofreading leaves a lot to be desired. Or, having worked in this field myself, were changes suggested that weren't made?
The content was quite interesting. The book is basically about a section of Adam's spiritual journey. We see a somewhat deluded, egotistical man trying to work things out, trying to develop spiritually and trying to put his 'karma' right. He trains in shiatsu and finds he has a 'gift' as a healer. He becomes very well-known, in the US as well as the UK. Irritating though the character is at times, he is also honest and self-critical, and the author arranges for him to have a marvellous 'come-uppance' towards the end of the story.
I did wonder how much of the author was coming through in the character, and, as the book is written in the first person, we did find ourselves thinking that Adam, or at least bits of him, could be an alter-ego of Simon, or at least that the book was semi-autobiographical. (If it isn't, suggest Simon doesn't use the first person next time!)
'Adam' has a very simplistic view of 'religion'. For example, at one point he says 'I am not aware of a current religion that aims to build up the individual from the inside.' Er...? He then apologises for attacking religion later, saying that it 'comforts people when bereaved'. Patronising.
Adam seems to find it difficult to keep his manhood in his trousers. He starts one chapter by thinking about Marlene, who he had sex with recently. Within a couple of paragraphs he's talking about meeting with Josephine, and we then have to read his descriptions of Josephine's body and how he's wondering whether it would be OK to have sex with her. We then have a fairly detailed description of sex with Josephine, who we're told was a virgin, saving herself for Adam. In the next chapter he's having sex with Pauline. And, BTW, he's also married, to Christine. The characters in general weren't fleshed out very well - we all got a bit mixed up with the four women whose names all ended in -een, all of whom apparently wanted to be Adam's long-term partner. We read of him musing over which one of three of the -eens (following his wife's death) he should 'pick'.
OK, now on to the positives, and there are quite a few.
We did like the way Adam would show that he did have humility; he'd pull himself up at times, he'd be self-deprecating.
We liked: 'Strange is that feeling when your self-esteem departs. The bravado, arrogance and ego slip away leaving a vacuum inside, a big painful empty space that was once filled with pride, confidence and self-belief.'
Excellent writing.
And:
'I knew that the results of what I did were random and a lot probably depended on the person's attitude and whether he or she took any of my advice seriously. Perhaps it was all a placebo and some people believed in me so much that it precipitated some king of spontaneous self-healing.'
After cheating on his wife, he says 'It is amazing the capacity humans have to justify their worse actions.' And 'Inevitably, as a protagonist in my own drama I did go through a series of justifications, sadly my initial reaction to any kind of discomfort.'
We liked the way the author also arranged for other characters and events to help Adam along. For example, at one point, after receiving rave reviews in the US, Adam says 'I was beginning to entertain the idea that I might have been incarnated by the forces of the universe to try and change an imbalance that was happening here on planet earth.' Adam thinks that maybe he is a 'prophet, 'like Jesus'. He then truly has his comeuppance! There is a scandal, and he is attacked by the media; he comes down to earth with a crash. His friend Aaron asks where the 'humble man' had gone to, saying starting a new religion was 'self-indulgent'. He says 'Did it get to you so much, all the hype and everyone telling you how great you were? Did a part of you begin to believe it all?'
We thought the following lines/paras were excellent. Perhaps not the first time they've been said, but enough to act as a great reminder for us all:
'Depression is what strips you of everything that prevents bringing about massive changes in our being.'
'It was true that the extreme fear, panic, anxiety I felt when our relationship was over did propel me into a new phase of my life. Do I need those challenges, difficulties to keep evolving? Do I subconsciously launch into emotional disasters just to go through another period of emotional growth?'
We also liked the idea that it's not the hard, painful times in our lives that prevent us from moving forwards, but it's the happy, joyful bits, in that (my words here) they prevent us from growing because we try to hang on to them, to recreate them, to get them back again? When what we should be doing is leaving them behind to experience a different stage of life, which in turn will bring its pain, and joy? Thank you, Simon, for giving us considerable food for thought here.
The final chapters of the book are excellent, and, yes, from a literary point of view as well! We loved the end of the penultimate chapter which described a dream in which...hmm, can't say any more, as it would be a 'spoiler', but there is quite a surprise at the beginning of the next chapter. This was beautifully done, and at this point found myself thinking the book could be a film.
To summarise, the content of the book is interesting and thought-provoking. Overall, it was a good experience. But, I think it would have been better written in the third person. As it is, we kept wondering 'is this Adam, or is this Simon?' Also, it is such a pity that the book wasn't sub-edited and proof-read properly for grammar and style, and suggest that Simon works on a new edition.
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D. Took
Content interesting, but needs sub-editing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 24, 2010