Chronicles of a Procrastinating Novelist Volume 17: Book Review - The Patrick Melrose Novels by Edwa
Having had my interest piqued by effective advertising on the part of Showtime and an interview with the star of the television adaptation in which Benedict Cumberbatch described the writing as “…prose that’s some of the best of the twenty-first century…,” I knew I had to read these. So I did.
The series, which consists of five novellas, follows the life of one Patrick Melrose, who serves as, as Cumberbatch put it, “… a loose alter ego for the author himself.” Book one, devastatingly titled Never Mind, centers on a pivotal childhood trauma which haunts the series, while the later books focus on Patrick’s various stages of moving through that experience. Bad News follows Patrick’s drug addled odyssey through New York City to collect his father’s ashes, while Some Hope depicts catharsis and confession in the midst of a party thrown by aristocrats. Mother’s Milk is a tradgi-comedy of starting a family of his own whilst falling off the bandwagon, then comes the finale in At Last where Patrick searches for reconciliation at a funeral of all things. Each piece is fashioned with care and skill that fit together like panes in a stained-glass window, singularly lovely and collectively essential to the final cohesive vision.
This is not an easy series to read because of the subject matter, but for those who venture, it is extraordinarily well done. The sentence work is graceful, skillful, and accessible. Believably rendered characters catch and hold the reader’s fascination and serve as the strongest motivator for continuing to read past viscerally uncomfortable material. Further, the novella structure makes the series a swift and compelling read once the story gets its hooks in. While I expected some excellent literary writing, I did not expect to find a new favorite story or find myself relating on a deep, personal level with something so completely removed from my own experience. I related to Patrick. Over and over again I recognized thoughts I’ve had suddenly articulated in his inner monologue, and it shook me. The books are academically excellent, but finishing the series put me in mind of Alain de Botton’s quote that “Most of what makes a book ‘good’ is that we are reading it at the right moment for us.” For whatever reason, I came to this series at the perfect moment for it to speak to me. It’s extraordinary because Aubyn makes thinly veiled autobiography about a very specific life and trauma into something universally and tangibly relatable. Such is the chief feat of great fiction, and the Patrick Melrose novels manage this on an unparalleled scale.
While I highly recommend the resultant Showtime series on its own merits, for readers, especially those who tend to prefer the source material to the filmic adaptations, this series is a must read. It’s not a series for all readers. It is not for escapist readers, readers who enjoy happy stories about happy people, readers who prefer “clean” fiction, or for readers uncomfortable with dark, upsetting, or realistic stories. These are books for readers interested in humans and human nature and stories about the heights and depths of the human experience. For those readers, they are gorgeous, gorgeous books.
As always, thank you for reading.
B
Sources:
Image - Amrit Chatterjee, "Patrick Melrose Season 2 Release Date: Will it Return?" Otakuart, 4 July 2018, https://otakukart.com/tvshows/patrick-melrose-season-2-release-date/
"Benedict Cumberbatch At The Ellen Degeneres Show 27 April 2018." YouTube, uploaded by Talk Show Time, 27 April 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enSuJeP9PHU&t=29s
