The Man I Think I Know
Jan. 17th, 2026 03:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearThe Man I Think I Know by Mike Gayle was my mum's choice for family book club.
It's about James, who is struggling to assert his independence three years on from a traumatic brain injury, and Danny, who is struggling to make anything of his life fifteen years on from a family tragedy.
I really didn't like it at first, because I disliked both the protagonists intensely, and there was a particular aspect of James' narrative that I found incredibly annoying. But, about 90 minutes in, something happened that grabbed my interest, and a few minutes later, they both did things that engaged my emotions more positively towards them.
And, after that, I really enjoyed it! I'm used to this kind of dual narrative being used in romance novels, so it was interesting to see it done for a platonic friendship, and I think it worked well. I wasn't wholly on board with how things turned out, but only in the actual romantic subplots - the rest of it was great, and went to some places I wasn't expecting.
It's about James, who is struggling to assert his independence three years on from a traumatic brain injury, and Danny, who is struggling to make anything of his life fifteen years on from a family tragedy.
I really didn't like it at first, because I disliked both the protagonists intensely, and there was a particular aspect of James' narrative that I found incredibly annoying. But, about 90 minutes in, something happened that grabbed my interest, and a few minutes later, they both did things that engaged my emotions more positively towards them.
And, after that, I really enjoyed it! I'm used to this kind of dual narrative being used in romance novels, so it was interesting to see it done for a platonic friendship, and I think it worked well. I wasn't wholly on board with how things turned out, but only in the actual romantic subplots - the rest of it was great, and went to some places I wasn't expecting.
