this book disappoints. at worst, the dialogue reads like The More You Know crossed with William Gaddis, at best, like an adolescent sentence fragment competition. i can barely discern any human features through scabrous layers of cultural and sexual cliche and the relevancy-motivated 'revelations' that only burden the reader the more they supposedly liberate the characters. the plot repeatedly endeavors to excite (or shock) the reader through related cliches, then disappoints by continually failing to sufficiently explore these Issues of the Day. I really wish the novel had simply focused its attention on schizophrenia and the relationships of twins.

concerning form. i am not otherwise familiar with lamb, so perhaps he has exercised stylistic and structural tricks elsewhere to better effect, but this book's fascination with folding, gluing, pureeing, microwaving linear progression does not shine any special light on the (ultimately simplistic) themes or (unnecessarily complicated) plot. trying to concentrate on the path(s?) of this book feels like sitting on an uneven bench and trying to keep a bowl of water from spilling while someone on the other end compulsively rocks the bench and tosses pebbles at my head. the book's devotion to narrative digression also fails to do it any favors. in the final 1/3 of the book, i will say that i was amazed to find myself *more* interested in the inexplicably-resurrected nested story than in the main narrative (the digression grew from a maddening diversion into a fascinating one but by no means redeemed the overall story--i might have even started wishing that the nested story was the *only* story).

as the story 'winds down,' addendums and revisions to the behaviors and circumstances of the characters mount on a geometric scale. if, like me, you get far enough into this book to start wondering if you should persevere simply to find out how it wraps up, i would like to hazard the advice that payoff is not directly proportional to time investment.

Nadat ik de pakkende reeks op Streamz had gezien wou ik ook het boek lezen. ‘Vergeef me’ is het verhaal van een eeneiige jongenstweeling waarvan er één ‘normaal’ is – ben nog nooit zo’n woedend personage tegengekomen – en zijn psychotische tweelingbroer. In 700 pagina’s boordevol kleine lettertjes lees je hun uiteraard niet chronologische, complexe en zeer gevarieerde geschiedenis. Interessant vind ik het verhaal van de verschrikkelijk arrogante grootvader, een ingeweken arme Italiaan die een ‘groots’ man wordt. Maar ook het verhaal van de moeder intrigeert, net zoals de speurtocht naar de ongekende vader van de tweeling en hun opvoeding onder het despotische bewind van de stiefvader. Verder is er de dood van een drie weken oude dochter, een traumatische scheiding, een vriendin die zwanger wordt terwijl haar partner gesteriliseerd is, een aantal zelfmoorden… Véél kommer en kwel dus, maar toch geboeid zitten lezen door de psychologische karaktertekeningen en de nature-nurturevraag.

This book is loved by many but I am not among them. The premise: identical twins only one of whom is schizophrenic, attracted me to this book. However the portrayal of schizophrenia was not 100% accurate which spoiled the book for me. On top of that I did not like the mixed up brother, abusive step-father, horrific grandfather, weak mother, betraying wife, sick brother, or any other of the unsavory characters. If I cannot root for at least one character (no matter how flawed) I cannot root for the book either.

I know this much is true ⭐️
His twin brother believed that God had chosen him to be a vessel, a prophet and he decided to try and sacrifice himself. He failed and lived another day but he was determined to do as God wanted for him.
Dominicks life is sideways because of his brothers condition and beliefs. But he also feels obligated to protect his brother help his brother and keep his brother out of jail. Afterall, Thomas thought he was doing Gods work.

The beginning was a bit scattered but once I got deeper into the story it flowed better and this was intense. I wish it was shorter but it was detailed and beautifully written.

Muy doloroso.

n  “If your twin was dead, were you still a twin?”n
~ 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.

n  “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. ”n
~Wally Lamb, I Know This Much Is True

I know this to be a true masterpiece. It was a riveting page turner . Despite the size of the novel , it was not intimidating in the least. Each character was crafted so wonderfully and I couldn’t wait to read each one’s story . From start to finish, I was completely hooked and so impressed with the storyline. I’m looking forward to reading more of Lamb’s novels .

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Now a mini series on HBO...

SUMMARY:
An epic story of brotherhood - identical twins, incredibly diverse and forever linked to one another. Dominic is the “stronger” twin, the one who has to hold everyone together, but manages to alienate most people along the way with his aggression and his stubborn ways. Thomas is the more loving and sensitive twin, but his mental health issues take a toll on this family. What will they discover about themselves and each other as they grow?

PROS and CONS:
This one’s a brick at almost 900 pages, it has a main character who is a total jerk, and a meandering plotline - really no plotline whatsoever. So I hated it, right? Wrong. It’s wonderful, it’s heartbreaking, it’s profound, it’s a journey I’m so very glad I took.

READ IT?
This one really depends on the person - if you’re in the mood for an in depth character study you won’t find a better option than this one.

5 Stars

Dominick Birdsey is a flawed human being (aren't we all?). He struggles with anger issues which he blames on his difficult life -- not knowing who his real father is, growing up with a physically abusive step-father, losing his mother to cancer and his infant daughter to SIDS, and having an identical twin who is seriously schizophrenic. He has trouble keeping a good job and maintaining close relationships. But, despite all, he is a good man who is willing to sacrifice almost anything for his mentally troubled brother.

Over the course of 900 pages covering many years, Dominick learns a lot about himself and his family's history, eventually concluding with these lines:

n  I am not a smart man, particularly, but one day, at long last, I stumbled from the dark woods of my own, and my family's, and my country's past, holding in my hands these truths: that love grows from the rich loam of forgiveness; that mongrels make good dogs; that the evidence of God exists in the roundness of things.

This much, at least, I've figured out. I know this much is true.n

This was a fantastic book -- a very long book that really flew by without a moment of being boring or tedious, and a very satisfying ending.

I got to chapter 7 before I finally was done. I'm sick of this narrative about how being the primary caretaker of someone who is mentally ill ruins their life. Think I'm exaggerating on this one? Straight from the horse's mouth in chapter 6: "You try being the brother of a paranoid schizophrenic. See if it doesn't royally fuck your life. Your relationships." It's absolutely disgusting. I thought it was going to be more thoughtful, less about the main character's ~struggle~ and more about actual schizophrenia. But NOPE. The brother's schizophrenia is just a plot device so Dominick can ~learn about himself~.

And the fact that I just spend half a chapter having the main character describe the ways his not-really-girlfriend (who is 15 years younger than him) has sex and is a "freak" because she was molested by her uncle was just icing on the cake.

I'm calling it now: this is neurotypical inspiration porn mixed with regular old porn to make it ~edgy~.

If you want to spend 900 pages inside the minds of a misogynist, this is the book for you.

I must redact my previous review that was in the form of an improper and preposterous simile. Write, rewrite, write, rewrite, press delete, turn off laptop. Back to the book...hmm...Okay, if I remember correctly, and there is a very good chance I do not, this book was post five hundred pages or more. Yet, I did not put it down. Why? Not exactly sure. But, I sense, Lamb is a very decent man, who wrote this story which I exceedingly liked. Okay, all is now better.

My friend Ron recommended this book to me, saying he thought it was something that I would enjoy. I owe him my thanks because he was right, although I didn’t exactly enjoy it… I rather loved it. I took so much from this story that I hardly know where to begin with a review.

This is what an exceptional author does: they put me inside the characters so that I know them and feel them for who they are and where they’ve been. Dominick is as rich a character as I’ve encountered in a long time and even though I couldn’t relate specifically to the events in his life, his voice is so vivid and authentic that I feel like I know him… and his pain, his anger, become mine.

So here are my rambling thoughts and interpretations, pared down to a relatively jumbled paragraph which still only scratches the surface…

The burden of love. Dominick’s identical twin Thomas suffers from a schizophrenia and is dependent on his twin to look out for his well being. Dominick finds himself paralyzed by the simultaneous desire for and fear of detachment from Thomas, so that he himself can live a more normal life. Guilt. A kind of survivor’s guilt, as the twin who escaped mental illness. Did he not protect his brother enough as a child and is he the reason behind Thomas’s illness? Anger. An abusive and dysfunctional childhood, a tragic loss in his adult life, feeling like he’ll drown being tethered to his brother. Who would not be angry in this situation? Unable to move on. Feeling like the world is out to screw him. It’s this very anger that makes him despise himself. Forgiveness. This is what Dominick needs the most. Release… to forgive and be able to move forward. Yet how can he forgive when he holds so much anger inside of him?

The beauty of this story is in watching as Dominick, after losing his way time and time again, finally starts to make his way “out of the woods.” His entire life this man has been frozen in those moments from his childhood, which are revealed via flashbacks throughout the book. He spends so much time mired down by his anger and fear that when begins to discover the idea of acceptance and letting go, I felt that weight coming off my own shoulders.

She reached for my hand. Squeezed it. “I learned something very useful today,” she said.

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“I learned that there are two young men lost in the woods. Not one. Two.” She gave me one of those half-smiles of hers – one of those non-committal jobs. ”I may never find one of the young men,” she said. “He has been gone so long. The odds, I’m afraid, may be against it. But as for the other, I may have better luck. The other young man may be calling me.”

This is a lengthy book but it is worth almost every page. I say “almost” because I did feel that grandfather Tempesta’s memoirs went on for too many pages and interrupted the flow in the second half. There is much to be gleaned from it, however, and in the end it wasn't enough for me to give this book anything less than five stars.

I’m going end this review with an excerpt from a song that has always spoken to me and which I feel is very apropos to this story, U2’s Stuck in a Moment:

n  I was unconscious, half asleep
The water is warm till you discover how deep
I wasn't jumping
For me it was a fall
It's a long way down to nothing at all
You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment
And now you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better now
You're stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it.n