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2018/34: Tin Man -- Sarah Winman
Tuesday, July 24th, 2018 08:20 am2018/34: Tin Man -- Sarah Winman
Ellis works in a car plant near Oxford, smoothing out dents in the metal. He's a solitary soul, mourning the deaths of his best friend Michael and his wife Annie. As a teenager he wanted to be an artist, but his father forbade it after his art-loving mother's death. Since then he's been hanging on in quiet desperation. Though his co-workers occasionally reach out to him, he doesn't want to get involved with anyone at all. He barely even engages with his own memories, his own experiences: he is not a man given to introspection. His dead wife is a constant presence in the house he shares.
( here be spoilers )
This novel was greatly acclaimed, but it felt to me like a sentimental tragedy. Winman's writing is gorgeous and I was impressed by the contrast between Ellis' narrative and Michael's, and the recurring themes and images throughout. I will look out for her other novels, which I hope will be in happier modes.
She told me that she'd once asked Ellis if we'd ever kissed. She said he looked at her, trying to fathom out what she wanted him to say. After a while, he said, We might have once, but we were young. [p. 164]
Ellis works in a car plant near Oxford, smoothing out dents in the metal. He's a solitary soul, mourning the deaths of his best friend Michael and his wife Annie. As a teenager he wanted to be an artist, but his father forbade it after his art-loving mother's death. Since then he's been hanging on in quiet desperation. Though his co-workers occasionally reach out to him, he doesn't want to get involved with anyone at all. He barely even engages with his own memories, his own experiences: he is not a man given to introspection. His dead wife is a constant presence in the house he shares.
( here be spoilers )
This novel was greatly acclaimed, but it felt to me like a sentimental tragedy. Winman's writing is gorgeous and I was impressed by the contrast between Ellis' narrative and Michael's, and the recurring themes and images throughout. I will look out for her other novels, which I hope will be in happier modes.
