I Know This Much Is True

I just finished the book "I Know This Much Is True" by Wally Lamb. The read was a bit of a monster, clocking in at just under 900 pages but well worth the time.

The story follows three generations of a family and is told from the perspective of Dominick Birdsey. Central to the story is Dominick's struggle with his identical twin brother, Thomas, who suffers from schizophrenia. The narrative jumps from the present day to childhood memories of Dominick's and even further back through a memoir by Dominick's grandfather written shortly before he was born. Not only does Dominick struggle with his brother's illness (and his lack of it) but he also tries to come to grips with his own issues from his abusive childhood to his recently failed marriage due to the death of his infant daughter.

The story is mesmerizing with rich and often (mostly) flawed characters. The novel is also extremely sad at times. There were several moments where I shed a few tears while reading, something I don't usually experience with books. Some of the more torturous bits of the book pay off nicely with themes of forgiveness and life renovation. The only minor problem I had with the story was the ending. It seemed to wrap up a little too clean and tidy for me, maybe a little bit of a jump from "real" life, a minor quibble.

Highly recommended, read this book.