Jarred McGinnis' The Coward is part memoir, part fiction.
September's discussion focused on The Coward, a debut novel by Jarred McGinnis. It was a novel loosely based on his own experience of becoming disabled after a car crash.
Members praised the quality of McGinnis' writing and the insights he provided in to the way disabled people are treated, and what it must be like to navigate your way through life as a new paraplegic.
McGinnis' choice to make the central character, who shares his name, such a difficult one to like provoked some discussion. For some, this was a brave and honest option, and avoided the cliched idea that becoming disabled would entirely transform someone's inherent personality. For some, though it did make it harder to engage or fully empathise with him and his story.
Some wondered whether memoir would have been a better option rather than fiction, and it remained unclear how much of the novel was really based on personal experience, and how much was invented.
There were members who felt McGinnis' romantic interest, Sarah, was a little thinly-drawn and idealised, and seemed there mainly to serve the main character's interests. Members agreed the relationship between McGinnis and his father was a more convincing one, and actually provided the heart and focus of the book. There were questions though about why such a rift had developed between Jarred and a father, when he seemed so sympathetic. The key though seemed to be the alcoholism that affected both Jarred's parents and influenced his childhood.
Most members felt that the book did though fall short of all it could have been. The decision to move back and forth between the present and the events leading to Jarred's accident did develop some tension, but became drawn out. Some members felt the book erred on the conventional side, when something a little more structurally daring might have delivered more. Some had hoped for more insight into the way disabled people are treated. They felt McGinnis might have been persuaded to be more conservative to target sales, when actually he might be capable of writing something more original.
What did emerge though was a pacey read, with enough in it to suggest that this is an author with a talent that could develop further. Some did wonder though if he could deliver a book which was not so based on personal experience.
Members praised the quality of McGinnis' writing and the insights he provided in to the way disabled people are treated, and what it must be like to navigate your way through life as a new paraplegic.
McGinnis' choice to make the central character, who shares his name, such a difficult one to like provoked some discussion. For some, this was a brave and honest option, and avoided the cliched idea that becoming disabled would entirely transform someone's inherent personality. For some, though it did make it harder to engage or fully empathise with him and his story.
Some wondered whether memoir would have been a better option rather than fiction, and it remained unclear how much of the novel was really based on personal experience, and how much was invented.
There were members who felt McGinnis' romantic interest, Sarah, was a little thinly-drawn and idealised, and seemed there mainly to serve the main character's interests. Members agreed the relationship between McGinnis and his father was a more convincing one, and actually provided the heart and focus of the book. There were questions though about why such a rift had developed between Jarred and a father, when he seemed so sympathetic. The key though seemed to be the alcoholism that affected both Jarred's parents and influenced his childhood.
Most members felt that the book did though fall short of all it could have been. The decision to move back and forth between the present and the events leading to Jarred's accident did develop some tension, but became drawn out. Some members felt the book erred on the conventional side, when something a little more structurally daring might have delivered more. Some had hoped for more insight into the way disabled people are treated. They felt McGinnis might have been persuaded to be more conservative to target sales, when actually he might be capable of writing something more original.
What did emerge though was a pacey read, with enough in it to suggest that this is an author with a talent that could develop further. Some did wonder though if he could deliver a book which was not so based on personal experience.
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