This is described as a modern day retelling of Hamlet, but it's not a direct, scene-for-scene retelling. To me, it seems more accurate to say it was loosely inspired by Hamlet. Either way, this was a pretty good read!Eleven year old Phillip has just lost his father to a tragic car accident. Not long after, Phillip begins seeing the ghost of his father, insisting that he was murdered by Phillip's uncle (now moving in on Phillip's mom), and that Phillip must avenge the murder before his father's birthday, otherwise his father's soul will not be freed, instead be forced to permanently exist within "the Terrors", a place for spirits that sounds as if it's some sort of hellishly painful purgatory... beyond that, it's not really explained why it's so awful for spirits, just that it hurts like hell and no one wants to get stuck there indefinitely.Because he has these seemingly one-sided conversations with his father (no one can see the ghost except Phillip), Phillip becomes a target for school bullies, two boys in particular seem to have it out for him -- spitting on him, throwing things at him, making "dead dad" jokes, and even going so far as to actually beat him up. What surprised me was how the story even shows Phillip (as well as other students) being bullied by his science teacher. I have to say though, I give props to Haig for shedding light on this little discussed reality: bullies aren't always just classmates! I'd go so far to say that, at times, Phillip is even bullied by his father's spirit.Phillip finds some protection and comfort in his first girlfriend, Leah. She's a year older than him and much more bold & outspoken. She also brings the added protection of her older brother who begrudgingly helps keep the bullies off Phillip, that is until Phillip's father-ghost gives out some selfishly motivated advice which ends up putting a major rift between Phillip & Leah.While there are nods to Shakespeare's classic, this story stands as an entertaining moral tale all of its own. It makes the reader think upon the themes of bullies, the power of familial ties and duties, first loves, as well the power of finding your own voice.It's not ever said that Phillip has any sort of developmental struggles, but with his voice being the narrator of the story, readers may notice a likeness to the tone of books like Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close or Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime.
This is the twenty-second book I read on my commute, and I'm reasonably certain that this book falls in the modern-lit category. But not 100% sure. It's highly amusing to me that as soon as I laid out the four categories books I read tend to fall into, I spend so much time trying to explain why no book ever aligns perfectly with any of the categories. Except non-fiction. Although there have been exceptions there too.So, The Dead Father's Club. This book is very cute and charming, and simultaneously heartbreaking. The gimmick is that it is a re-imagining of Hamlet, but set in modern England and with an eleven-year old named Philip as the surrogate of the troubled Danish prince. It's fun to see how Matt Haig adapts Shakespearean motifs to the twenty-first century, and it's fun to see how he subverts the story as well. It's an interesting blend of humor and pathos, as well. Philip really does take it upon himself to avenge his father's death, but he remains an eleven year old who is largely baffled by the adult world his mother and his conniving uncle inhabit, and is just as largely helpless against it. His attempts at righteous payback are comically ridiculous, but he remains a very sad, frightened child who has lost his father, is losing his mother to his uncle's courtship, and will probably lose his childhood along the way.So whence the genre confusion? It all depends on how literally you take the title of the book, which refers to the gathering of which Philip's father has unwillingly become a part: the conclave of ghosts of murdered fathers around the world, awaiting vengeance to be delivered by their sons. Is Philip an eleven-year-old on the verge of a mental breakdown, seeing his father's ghost and furthermore believing that ghost is urging him to kill his uncle? Or does the book take place in a world where ghosts are real and Philip is legitimately being manipulated by them? The Dead Father's Club walks the line between the two possibilities, so maybe it's a supernatural story, or maybe it's just a truly sad tale about how childish beliefs can make a childhood tragedy far worse than an adult one.Running total for types of books read on the commute:Classics: 1Modern Lit: 6Fantasy/sci-fi: 11Non-fiction: 4
What do You think about The Dead Fathers Club (2007)?
This story, set in modern-day England and narrated by an eleven year-old boy, is a clever and subtle retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet. The story opens when Philip, the Hamlet-narrator, sees his father's ghost after the funeral. His father's ghost informs him that he was murdered by Uncle Alan, and that he will be stuck in eternal torment unless Philip kills his uncle before his father's next birthday in a few months. When I say that I don't want to give more than that away, you may think to yourself "but it's Hamlet! I know what happens!" Trust me, the story is unique enough that it caught me off guard and made me question the plot more than once. In the end, it's Philip that makes this book so worth reading. The writing style really makes you feel like you're listening to an eleven year-old tell a story, and it didn't take long for me to really worry for this poor, young, grief-stricken kid. This is one book that really stuck with me. Be warned, though. The ending has a cliff-hanger feel, so if you like all your ends tied up neatly, you might not enjoy this particular book.
—Meagan
The Dead Father's Club is a passable, if not particularly memorable, retelling of Hamlet.Matt Haig moves the plot elements of Hamlet to a modern British setting, with the part of Hamlet played by a confused eleven year old boy whose dad has just died in a car accident. The conflict is set up to be read on two levels: the classic level in which Phillip's dad goads him on to seek revenge on his Uncle Alan and on another level where perhaps Phillip is making this all up in order to deal with the tumultuous changes in his life.The novel starts out well humanizing and modernizing the characters, but I feel like it doesn't earn or realistically portray Phillip's later drastic actions. They feel obligatory to the play rather than naturally flowing from character development. Furthermore, the realistic portrayal of how these actions impact the real world is somewhat glossed over, especially in regards to Leah (stand-in for Ophelia), I felt. Ultimately, I find this attempt to be true to two sources, the original and to modern-day reality, ended up watering down the emotional depths of both- and giving poor resolution to both interpretations of the central conflict. Rating: 2.5/5 stars
—Kaion
This is one case where I wish I'd read the reviews before I read the book. It's been a while since I read Hamlet, otherwise I might have made the connection myself. I'll probably reread it eventually with that lens to see if I like it better.It's a weird book. I gave it 3 stars because it was unique enough to take me on the journey...I really enjoyed Philip's voice, literally and figuratively since I listened to the book on audio, and the actor was great. I would have given it 4 stars but the ending left me hanging so much it was hard to say I "really liked" it.In the end, it did give me some things to think about - what to believe and what now to believe, and how to decide.This would be a fun one to talk about in a book group.
—Deb
