Alice and the Fly

Alice and the Fly by James Rice

Genre: Fiction/Young Adult

Edition: http://tinyurl.com/oy5sc5r

 

Synopsis:

This is a book about phobias and obsessions, isolation and dark corners. It's about families, friendships, and carefully preserved secrets. But above everything else it's about love. Finding love - in any of its forms - and nurturing it. Miss Hayes has a new theory. She thinks my condition's caused by some traumatic incident from my past I keep deep-rooted in my mind. As soon as I come clean I'll flood out all these tears and it'll all be ok and I won't be scared of Them anymore. The truth is I can't think of any single traumatic childhood incident to tell her. I mean, there are plenty of bad memories - Herb's death, or the time I bit the hole in my tongue, or Finner's Island, out on the boat with Sarah - but none of these are what caused the phobia. I've always had it. It's Them. I'm just scared of Them. It's that simple.

 

Summary:

A truly eye-opening novel about the troubles and trepidations of a young boy suffering with mental health issues and the repercussions of the ignorance surrounding such problems.

 

My thoughts:

Alice and the Fly is an original tale - curious and addictive, the writing is incredibly authentic and will hold you under until the last page.

Told through a mixture of diary excerpts and police transcripts we are introduced to Greg's very much isolated life. Seen as an outcast, a loner and frequently called 'psycho', he is almost non-existent to his parents who are both caught up in their own plethora of problems.

Greg sees things. His world is strange, he sees truth and lies, but is clueless to tell that which is real, and that which is not.

The writing style was a great way of showing us the main character's thought process, the transcripts were an intriguing way of withholding future events and giving us that much needed insight into the supporting characters and how their involvement(or lack thereof) also influenced the final outcome.

Although, saying that, after the initial burst of interest, I swiftly became bored and disconnected from the character, at some point forgetting his name altogether and being surprised when someone referred to him as Greg, but this reflects the way Greg himself is alienated and how he alienates himself from others by simply not talking.

 

If you are looking to read this novel because you expect an intriguing overlook of the beginning's of a serial killer, or some other such negative tangent often related to mental health issues then this is the wrong book for you. Alice and the Fly takes a serious look at mental health and all the misconceptions associated with it, right down to the innocence and often confusion of the person afflicted.

What I like about this book is that it doesn't focus 100% on the bad parts of Greg's condition. The bad parts being his episodes, but that is true to reality. Not all mental health suffers have episodes or even have symptoms that define them as such. Mental health is possibly the one diagnosis which can be extremely well hidden and shrugged off easily by family and professionals alike.

That being said, the scenes that do involve Greg and Them are absolutely perfect.

The descriptions are so chilling and haunting that in one particular scene I found myself shivering and shaking as Greg was and found it difficult to carry on.

 

As for character arcs, there isn't one specifically. I would say, the arc of the book relates more to the impact Greg has on the supporting characters. In the beginning we find Greg living in a dysfunctional family, his mom and dad clearly having marital issues, his sister avoids him and the only sanctuary school offers him is in the form of Mrs.Hayes who tries to understand and help Greg(but not necessarily in the right way, as I'll go into later). By the end of the novel we see a complete change in each of these characters, most admitting that they could have done more instead of just ignoring it as if it would go away but ultimately, little changes for Greg whom we follow throughout.

 

The one character however that I think DID make a difference, and not surprisingly doesn't get any proper 'page-time' is Greg's grandmother. It is alluded to that she may have suffered with the same condition as Greg after the passing of her husband but the best thing about this is, she doesn't try to fix Greg. She understands him. Which with these kinds of issues, I think does a hell of a lot more good than any reverse therapy will ever do.

 

Final word:

I'm not entirely sure about how I feel even after a week after reading, it is one of those books that is still making me think days afterward and the impression it has made only improves.

This is a dazzlingly significant debut by James Rice which will do wonders to raise awareness for mental health both for adult and for more importantly, Young Adult literature.

 

Star Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

Buy: Yes.

Borrow: Definitely.

Further reading suggestions: Charm and Strange