My Secret History: A Novel
October 14, 2019 - Comment
Roughly following the course of Theroux’s own life, the greedy and self-centred Andre Parent progresses from gun-toting coming-of-age in Massachusetts to teaching with the peace corps in Africa, then on to a duplicitous life of travel, writing and women. First published in 1989, when the Sunday Times’s critic wrote ‘Theroux’s best fiction to date …
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Superlative This semi-autobiographical book is one of Paul Theroux’s very best, bringing to life the sense of confinement he felt in Boston as a teenager, before adopting the wandering life taking him all round the world which he has enjoyed ever since. The humour of the first “Altar Boy” section gradually darkens as we work our way through the book to where he has to make more difficult, adult decisions. The pain of his marital breakdown is vividly described, & its partial repair leads us to the…
Theroux on Top Form Thoroughly enjoyed this. Written in the first person it reads as autobiographical; he insists the characters “walked out of my imagination” but clearly much of it is based on Theroux’s experiences & observations. It is divided into sections, each of which could be read independently, & deals with various stages of the narrator’s life. This allows Theroux to range widely over different cultures, people, places & different moods even, the narrator showing quite contrasting aspects of…
Too long, too thin and pointless Started in a compelling way – childhood foreshadowing what? But the episodic structure shows little development. Secret me writing stuff down ooooh! Has the makings of something far darker and punchier. Ultimately unsatisfying…but well written if thatâs not a contradiction