The Silver Linings Playbook (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
This paperback was one of my 50p charity shop finds. I know I only bought it because I had seen the trailers for the film although I had no clue as to what it was about really, but I was expecting a nice, easy reading romantic comedy – which is not what this book turns out to be.The easiest way to review it is by telling you about the main character, Pat. Pat has just been released from a mental institution where he has spent the past four years following what, for the most part of the read, we are just told was a traumatic marital break down. He believes that his life is a movie, one where every cloud has a silver lining and that he is moving towards a happy ending – in this case, a reconciliation with his wife, Nikki.Now he is ready to be released into the care of his mother, other family, therapist and friends, including an enigmatic, unusual young woman called Tiffany. There Is a very strong American Football theme running through the book, the male characters are all huge Philadelphia Eagles fans but American Football is something I know virtually zilch about. There is a lot of talk about one player, Hank Baskett – now that is someone I have heard of, but only because he is married to Kendra Wilkinson who was on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.Pat is a very engaging and strong character.. The story is told from his perspective in a series of short, catchy chapters in his very unique voice. In a lot of respects he did seem very childlike – he refers to the mental institution as “the bad place”, the situation with his wife as “apart time” and has a great fear and hatred of Kenny G. Most of the time I liked his voice, but there were times when it did grate, and he came across more as a “high functioning Forrest Gump”. I have seen the book bandied about as a story about mental illness but I have to be honest and say I didn’t really fully “grasp” that handle. To me, he always felt more like someone who was suffering from the after effects of a head injury.I wasn’t really happy about the portrayal of his father – a cold, miserable man who refuses to talk to his son and who is just plain unlikeable. I was hoping that there would be some sort of “cards on the table reconciliation” but it didn’t happen. Maybe it was part of the message that life does not always come with a happy ending with clouds not always having that silver lining.On the whole though, this was a really enjoyable read, one that I could get really involved in as I entered Pat’s world. He is a character that you cannot help but like and start to root for, hoping that, against all the odds, he will find his happy ending. What a thoroughly entertaining read and one of the few books I've read only after seeing the movie, which was as whacky and laugh out loud funny as the book. The book however, let you get much more inside the head of Pat, the very sympathetic narrator who has just emerged from years in a mental hospital though he has lost track of time and the amount of time he was in there. All the characters around Pat are so well developed from his Indian therapist, odd Tiffany, to members of his immediate family, who all love Pat and are rooting for him but all quirky in their own way. Laugh out loud funny and very entertaining! A must read.
What do You think about The Silver Linings Playbook (2012)?
Loved this! Couldn't put it down! Very different than the movie.
—ashbooth
Doesn't happen often but the movie was better.
—Dejmon
