Something To Answer For - PH Newby

Published by Faber and Faber Ltd: London, England, 2008.
Originally published 1968.

The very first Booker Prize winner, Something to Answer For follows Townrow, a protagonist that for the first section of the book I kept misreading as “Tomorrow.” I bring that up, because it reflects, on a smaller scale, the feeling of confusion and disorientation that permeates this book. Very early on, Townrow (who has travelled to Egypt to either help or swindle an elderly widow) gets knocked on the head and left for dead, and as a result has ongoing memory problems. He forgets things that we, the readers, already know, or he remembers sequels to earlier scenes much later, and on occasion even “remembers” as having happened events that we know are fictionalised, or that may have happened to another character.

The concept is clever, but having an unreliable narrator who also makes spontaneous and reckless decisions throughout the narrative also makes the book very difficult to follow. For example, at one point in the narrative Townrow suddenly finds himself on a ferry which is sinking, so fetches another small boat that seems to be attached to the ferry (yet which no other passenger has noticed), climbs into it, and sails away. The exact reasons he got on the ferry are unclear, the ferry is never mentioned again, and Townrow is next met a month later, having finally returned to the area, and people, that he left. Other than showing how damaged Townrow is, and giving him some more events to flash back upon, the reason for this excursion is a mystery.

The plot also fizzles out after a while, which fits with Townrow's character, but leaves the book on an ambiguous note.

For its originality I can understand why this book may have caught the attention of the first Booker judges, although its confusing nature means it is not one I will hurry to revisit.

Completed 11 April 2018.

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(Bookerworm)

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