Customer Reviews

Well

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A rare contemporary novel that speaks to a contemporary reader on a profoundly human level, without formulaic politics, or formulaic psychology, or condescension, or cuteness, or formulaic humanity, but with the voice of an author who, like a good doctor, cares genuinely about some very sick patients, his characters, not even despite but because of their flaws. Compared to Selby and Carver by some, this may be especially so to the extent that each of them shows traces of Dubliners, as McIntosh distinguishes himself with characters that could really be anyone at all, and are, though of a very particular time and place. Others have synopsized the plot and style, so there is no need to repeat. Suffice to say, the author manifests a sophistication and subtlety of human study well beyond his young years, and this reader has not been as deeply touched by contemporary fiction in a long time, when contemporary meant something else entirely.

"Well" is a hard-earned marvel, and Matt McIntosh is a nothing less than a prodigy. His book focuses on a tapestry of broken lives in Federal Way, Washington, outside of Seattle, drawn together by the common ailments of discontentment, disillusionment, and a yearning for some small redemption. The chapter (or story) "Fishboy," about a young man suffering from the break-up of his family, has a raw, wrenching power like something I've rarely encountered in contemporary fiction, somewhat like the stories in Denis Johnson's "Jesus' Son," but wholly Matt McIntosh's, wholly unique. His work has a kind of poetic integrity that signals a rare talent, a new voice.

This book is a lot of things. It's depressing, it's sad and it's dark. It's funny, it's real and it's honest. And most of all, it's very hard to put down. Matthew McIntosh is a 26 year old son of a preacher who spent time in London and California before landing in a little suburb of Seattle called Federal Way, the setting for the book. The book follows the lives and relationships of many people who are lost, despondent, disturbed, and struggling to just get through one more day. This is a brutally frank snapshot of people that most of us of hope we never meet and pray we never become. We see them on street corners, in alleys, in parks and sometimes right next door, though we pretend to not notice and hope to God they don't notice us. McIntosh's writing style is unconventional and compelling at the same time. It is refreshingly (and shockingly) different.

Often I feel forced to keep up this guise of being happy all the time. I'm generally a happy person, but when I'm not, I don't feel empowered to share that. In books, on television, in the movies - people experience bad luck and bad times but in the end they almost always conquer all. But real life isn't books, TV or the movies. We don't always get the Hollywood ending.

In Well, Matthew McIntosh writes about human experiences that aren't glamorous and they aren't always happy. Instead, McIntosh grabs onto the little sparks in people lives that help them keep going on.

It's fascinating to me when an author can write a book with characters in it that I wholly relate to, regardless of whether they are like me. When I was younger it happened frequently, but when I was younger all I needed was a character that liked to read, collected mundane things or worried about school and friends. Well struck a nerve in me that has been left untouched since childhood. McIntosh writes of the mundane happenings in life, the ugly little things that most people never mention but which we all know happen, and because of that, he has created a wonderful collection of stories.

McIntosh certainly isn't the first author to write about everyday life. While what he does isn't new, it does cover new territory. Well reads like a book of short stories. There are small segments dedicated to different people's lives, woven together with fines threads that are only visible on close inspection. The people's lives are in many respects hopeless, but they persevere. McIntosh never offers a succinct reason for why they continue trying, but he does suggest one image - that of a well.

What McIntosh seems to suggest is that everyone has a hole that they are trying to fill. If everyone has that same hole, regardless of whether it is spoken of, we share something in common. In that is the empowerment to share the negative aspects of life, the solace in knowing that others are experiencing what you are - what I am.

Well is an easy-to-read book. Each vignette lasts only a few pages and then you are on to the next person, the next life. Despite this brevity, characters are very real and their experiences stick with you. While no one scene may remain with you, the idea that people all share the common experience of bad times and the desire to find better ones will marinate in your head long after you put the book down.

Like Carver? Denis Johnson? Well even if you don't you should give this innovative and masterful book a try. McIntosh weaves together the lives of his suburbanite characters into a picture of modern life unlike any yet presented. His voice is incredibly original and is the true genius behind the book but what's remarkable for a first novel is that this voice really has something to say.

It's hard to know how to describe this book. I picked it up because it was supposedly a look at life in the Seattle suburb of Federal Way. I grew up in Seattle so that grabbed my attention. What it turned out to be was a book about nothing. Literally. Just short snapshots of people's sad and pathetic lives, doing nothing, going nowhere, and as depressing as the long and rainy Seattle winters. Bleak and disturbing but hard to pull away from, it's the Jerry Springer show without the set.

Here are the high points. The author is a great writer, of this there is no doubt. He truly creates vivid pictures so realistic that you will have to double-check that it is fiction. The emotions and circumstances of the character's and their lives hit you with an impact that still lingers long after completing the book. It is a quick read and easy to experience, so little effort is required to get the effect.

However, the result of this fiction is somewhat of an enigma for me. Why? Why write these stories? What is the point? Throughout the book, in between the chapters about very depressing people and lives that make you thankful they are not yours, are Bible verses. No explanation is ever given for their purpose. I guess this book is like a piece of artwork - much is left to the imagination of the observer.

I found the whole experience rather disturbing, but in a real way so I suppose that shows talent. If this is your thing, then by all means buy it and enjoy it. You can feel wonderfully depressed. Otherwise, take my word for it, the author is talented, but wait to see if he writes something with more purpose than a short glimpse into the sad and pitiful lives of lost and wounded people.

Well done, McIntosh. I've never been to Seattle, or kept tropical fish, or got a girl pregnant, or been kept hostage by a gun-man but having read "Well," I've a pretty good idea of what all that feels like. McIntosh's method of layering personalities and events one over the other gave me the same delight I get from stripping layers of wallpaper from old walls - I am fascinated by all the different designs and choices people have made. "Well" is like that. It's non-linear, character-driven but with plots forced into small spaces like little fingers in wall-sockets.

I loved it.
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This book is fiction, but is not really a novel. It's a scatterbrain scattershot approach to fiction that is more confusing than enlightening. If this book were television, it'd be "Saturday Night Live" with series of sketches rather than a coherent tale told by an author. Some individual scenes from the book are interesting such as the guy whose ex-girlfriend is trying to save his soul while his girlfriend is going crazy that she's putting moves on her man. However, many scenes drag on interminably such as the funeral for a boxer following a nebulous array of funeral attendees. "Well" interesting for a time, but ultimately is confusing, pointless and not worth reading. Its best quality is that it is short with many blank pages inflating a flimsy fictional attempt. Other reviews have called McIntosh a prodigy. For me, he seems lazy, unable to be bothered with details like plot or character development. The table of contents is almost a chapter unto itself with long quotations that come across as pretentious and self-indulgent. If you like a book that reads like the literary equivalent to an arty television commercial, McIntosh will have appeal. This is mostly package and very little substance. Next!

I consider this book to be one of the most interesting and BEST books of all-time. It's original and intriguing and a must read for those who like books that try new things.

I consider this book to be one of the most interesting and BEST books of all-time. It's original and intriguing and a must read for those who like books that try new things.