The Terrible Privacy Of Maxwell Sim (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
A nice commentary on the need for human interaction and connection. Read this during a time when I was torn between wanting to go off grid to shut down all the noises around me and feeling cut off and alone. Still not sure where the final coin falls but the book made me think more about the choice. Sad, but also sardonically funny - especially Max's relationship with Emma. The ending was totally unpredictable! Firstly, "Spoiler Alert!" as one cannot discuss this book without examples. Sometimes you buy a book because you are drawn to the cover, sometimes the cover text or summary. I bought this book because I am a fan of picaresque novels and I thought it was exactly that - only to realize that it was not!Sometimes one struggle through the first bit of a book and then end up with a gem of a story because the latter stages of the book drag you deeper and deeper into the story, making you race through pages until you reach the end. I do not have real preferences for endings,e.g. I like twist endings, I like brutally realistic endings and even sad endings. I have patience with books and a hell of a lot of respect for authors who can put in the time and effort to get a book published. It is not often that I would put down a book and say never-never-never again would I read it or even recommend it. THIS is such a book though.The author takes the reader on a journey through the mind of Maxwell Sim from a first person point-of-view. One starts to follow Max through a journey of self discovery while also coming to understand why he has suffered the many misfortunes that has led him to the point where he was found in a terrible state and almost frozen in a Toyota Prius. One learns of his disinterested father, his youth and his ever increasing obsession with a fraudulent yachtsman, based on a real life person, who vanished at sea while attempting a yacht race around the world. He meets a lot of people from his past, some are interesting, some are not, but one sticks with the book because somewhere it will start getting better.Now for Spoilers!The problem is that one starts to get sort of interested in Max and wish him to be successful eventually, but the author himself, i.e. Jonathan Coe, realizes at some point that he has not created a realistic character. He is correct that his character formulation is flawed in so many places that he would literally be a sieve to a psychologist. One such a flaw is the storyline surrounding Polly's uncle Clive. Through the entire story one reads about the Max's yearning for his estranged wife, he also falls in love with Polly and Lindsay, he then fantasizes, but eventually declines sleeping with his friend's sister. Then there is also the Chinese mother playing cards with her daughter that he actually dreams of starting a new life with, only for this very woman enlightening him that he, yes Max, is actually gay! I am not quite clear why the author would want us to believe this or whether he attempted a clever ruse by the character. Maybe he is trying to show a genetic trait as Max's father suffered under the terrible fate of pretending to be straight while actually being gay. In this storyline Polly actually invited Max over to find a partner for her uncle and it ends with Max trying to kiss Polly...The sad part is that one reads 300 pages of this nonsense book about a toothbrush salesmen to get to an ending in the final 9 pages where Max meets the author on a beach only to realize that he, Max, is actually just a character in this person's book! Yes, Max does not actually exist... If only I could get the hours back that I spent reading this!
What do You think about The Terrible Privacy Of Maxwell Sim (2010)?
J'ai hésité entre 3 et 4... parce que je ne sais trop quoi penser en tournant la dernière page!
—NISSI
Lu en anglais. Arrêté à la moitié. L'histoire a du mal à prendre et reste assez plate.
—Timonbass
Great book for 90% of the time! disappointing ending
—sammy_0221
Lu en français - La vie très privée de Mr Sim
—junebug
