Früh am Morgen beginnt die Nacht

Story of Domonick and his troubled identical twin brother, who protests at the first Gulf War by cutting off his hand.[return][return]This leads Domonick to assess how his life has gone, and confront some long buried issues. [return][return]900 pages long, this is a biggie, have to admit to skimming chunks of it because I got a little bored, but generally worth while

“If your twin was dead, were you still a twin?”
~ Wally Lamb, I Know This Much Is True

I hope everyone has that one friend that every time they recommend a book, you know you will not be disappointment. I am so lucky that I have such a friend. She recommended Wally Lamb’s mammoth novel I Know This Much Is True.

I don’t believe the next paragraph contains spoilers but to be on the safe side **Spoiler Alert**. To summarize; the story follows a set of identical twins, Dominick and Thomas Birdsey, set in the early 1990’s in Three Rivers, Connecticut. Thomas is the gentle, all around nice-guy twin who, unfortunately, suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. When on the correct medication, he can keep his psychotic episodes at bay, for the most part. Dominick, on the other hand, comes off as the angry brother; the brother who always watches after and protects his twin brother from just about everyone. All-the-while, they also endure an abusive, cold-hearted stepfather. The book opens up with Thomas having a psychotic episode where he mutilates himself in protest to the Gulf War. The reason being is he feels he needs to make a blood sacrifice to God to stop the bloodshed that the war brings. By doing this he lands in the State hospital…the corrupt kind of hospital that doesn’t give one iota about anything but the bottom line. Dominick will do anything in his power to get Thomas back to being an inpatient where he normally stays and where they take wonderful care of Thomas.

If I say anything more, I fear I will be offering more than what my summary should give and I don’t want to spoil anything for you. But what I can say is that this book is a gut-wrenching, complex, roller-coaster ride. Dominick narrates in a blunt, “this is how it is” style, holding nothing back. The way he tells us of how his life is makes me care for all the characters…really care. So much so that I had to remind myself that this work is a work of fiction and not real life.

Even though I loved reading this book, it did fall short in some areas. First, was the ‘grandfather’ sub-plot that I could have done without. For me, it didn’t add any value to the story. Second, there is so much drama and sorrow throughout the whole novel, that the ending was unrealistic, cleaning up all those lose ends in just two chapters. Outside of those two points, I found this book phenomenal. And, if ever asked if I would recommend this book, a solid, “Yes!” would be my answer. However, I would follow that by stating that there are some triggers that some people might find offensive, such as explicit language, bullying, rape, death, body mutilation, self-harm and suicide- to name a few.

“I walked over and looked closer at the statue of the goddess. She was wearing a headdress with a skull and a cobra and a crescent moon. Maybe this is what peace of mind was all about: having a poisonous snake on your head and smiling anyway.”
~Wally Lamb, I Know This Much Is True ( )

“If your twin was dead, were you still a twin?”
~ Wally Lamb, I Know This Much Is True

I hope everyone has that one friend that every time they recommend a book, you know you will not be disappointment. I am so lucky that I have such a friend. She recommended Wally Lamb’s mammoth novel I Know This Much Is True.

I don’t believe the next paragraph contains spoilers but to be on the safe side **Spoiler Alert**. To summarize; the story follows a set of identical twins, Dominick and Thomas Birdsey, set in the early 1990’s in Three Rivers, Connecticut. Thomas is the gentle, all around nice-guy twin who, unfortunately, suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. When on the correct medication, he can keep his psychotic episodes at bay, for the most part. Dominick, on the other hand, comes off as the angry brother; the brother who always watches after and protects his twin brother from just about everyone. All-the-while, they also endure an abusive, cold hearted step-father. The book opens up with Thomas having a psychotic episode where he mutilates himself in protest to the Gulf War. The reason being is he feels he needs to make a blood sacrifice to God to stop the bloodshed that the war brings. By doing this he lands in the State hospital…the corrupt kind of hospital that doesn’t give one iota about anything but the bottom line. Dominick will do anything in his power to get Thomas back to being an inpatient where he normally stays and where they take wonderful care of Thomas.

If I say anything more, I fear I will be offering more than what my summary should give and I don’t want to spoil anything for you. But what I can say is that this book is a gut-wrenching, complex, roller-coaster ride. Dominick narrates in a blunt, “this is how it is” style, holding nothing back. The way he tells us of how his life is makes me care for all the characters…really care. So much so that I had to remind myself that this work is a work of fiction and not real life.

Even though I loved reading this book, it did fall short in some areas. First, was the ‘grandfather’ sub-plot that I could have done without. For me, it didn’t add any value to the story. Second, there is so much drama and sorrow throughout the whole novel, that the ending was unrealistic, cleaning up all those lose ends in just two chapters. Outside of those two points, I found this book phenomenal. And, if ever asked if I would recommend this book, a solid, “Yes!” would be my answer. However, I would follow that by stating that there are some triggers that some people might find offensive, such as explicit language, bullying, rape, death, body mutilation, self-harm and suicide- to name a few.

“I walked over and looked closer at the statue of the goddess. She was wearing a headdress with a skull and a cobra and a crescent moon. Maybe this is what peace of mind was all about: having a poisonous snake on your head and smiling anyway. ”
~Wally Lamb, I Know This Much Is True ( )

A wonderful ROOT discovery of this long-form fiction story of two twins lives during a time of upheaval. Very moving and engaging. ( )

897 pages with the most angry, arrogant, selfish middle age man on the planet. Definitely made me take a look at myself and make sure I'm not acting like the entire world is against me.

Yes, Dominick...we know you grew up in a dysfunctional home full of physical and verbal abuse and we know what a burden it was for you to have to take care of your mentally ill brother and your mother. Doesn't mean you get to be a JERK to everyone who crosses your path. Everyone on this planet is dealing with their own personal shit so we need to get over ourselves, ok? Sheesh!

This book is a chunkster so go for the ebook or audiobook if you can. Trying to balance an 897 page hardcover when your cat takes over your lap is not easy, but I got this book back in the early days of Oprah's first bookclub. I don't know if ebooks had even been invented yet.

This book lives on my Favorites shelf. This past Wednesday, my day off, I read from page 96 to 320. Could not put it down. Every single sentence is good. Well, except the transcript of the grandfather's life story. I'll admit I skimmed through most of that. I read this book all day yesterday and finished it just now.

The HBO series with Mark Ruffalo is really good, too. ( )