Reviews for This Is the Life: A Novel

by Alex Shearer

Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

With this bittersweet, heartbreaking autobiographical novel, Shearer (The Invisible Man's Socks) has given readers a rarity in this genre these days: an honest look at grief and a complicated, multilayered study of family relationships. When his older brother Louis is diagnosed with a brain tumor, the unnamed narrator stays by his side, caring for him through his illness and final days. Shearer paints Louis as an extremely intelligent and capable person who chooses a difficult path and never quite lives up to his potential. Through a series of vignettes, we get to know Louis and all of his quirks as he struggles with his disease. VERDICT Told with equal parts humor and sadness, this book is especially poignant for anyone who has ever had a complicated relationship with a sibling. Reminiscent of Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, this is a thoughtful reflection of what is truly important in life.-Mariel Pachucki, Maple Valley, WA (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Two English brothers unite after many years to make sense of the "bits and pieces" of memory, mortality and the thickness of blood in this poignant novel by Shearer (The Cloud Hunters, 2012, etc.).Despite a recent surgery to remove his Stage 4 glioblastoma multiforme, a brain tumor the size of a billiard ball, milky-eyed, bushy-bearded Louis doesn't have much time left. When his younger brotherthe book's unnamed narratorcares for him at his home in Australia, their cohabitation exposes the dysfunction, resentment and deep-seated friction between them. Louis, in childhood the stronger intellectually gifted brother, in adulthood has morphed into a bohemian who eschews traditional careers, hygiene and financial stability. The younger brother, "a disappointment from the start," picks up the slack in his later years and now escorts Louis to his radiotherapy treatments, quizzes him about his bank PIN and replaces his broken tea kettle. Despite the brothers' witty, often playful exchanges, the narrator's care of Louis unleashes bitterness and jealousy. "To my mind, it had all been about Louis our whole lives.Which is no good to anybodyto be defined as simply being related to somebody else." Shearer's exquisite prose is most powerful when the younger brother comes to appreciate Louis' quirks and unconventional choices and, in the end, eloquently grieves his passing. "We love whom we must, and then we grow, and love whom we will. But still we're caught, like a fish with a swallowed hook, and we can swim downriver nearly all our lives, but end up getting tugged back to the past, to childhood, to our defenseless selves, and we are reeled in."This pensive, poetic novel, based loosely on Shearer's own experience of losing his brother, humorously though sensitively expresses the complications of sibling relationships, the ambiguity of absolution, and the beauty of life in its last, tender moments. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.


Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Two brothers separated by distance and time reunite when the younger travels from England to Australia to take care of the older, Louis, who has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Louis tries to hang on to a normal life while undergoing surgery and treatment, but normal with regard to him is a relative term. Though he is smart and highly educated, he never fulfilled his early promise or fit into a conventional mold, and his wild-man appearance, makeshift surroundings, and odd habits betoken an eccentricity that his brother, who is the narrator, sometimes finds exasperating. The novel moves back and forth, layering recollections of the past and reflections on the nature of life and death with the press of daily existence. The brothers bond over the details a malfunctioning DVD player, a haircut, a cheese danish, the small change and the small coin. Children's book author Shearer (Sea Legs, 2005) drew on his experience with his own brother to produce this deeply felt, often funny, heartbreaking book.--Quinn, Mary Ellen Copyright 2014 Booklist


Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

This poignant and compassionate novel from British children's author Shearer (The Speed of the Dark) concerns one brother serving as the primary caregiver for another brother battling a life-threatening disease. Louis, who lives in a Brisbane suburb, is diagnosed with a brain tumor "the size of a billiard ball" and asks his younger (unnamed) brother, living with his family in the U.K., to travel to Australia and assist him. The introspective younger brother narrates their stories through nonlinear anecdotes, about their early years growing up together in a blue collar British family and about Louis's grueling present regimen of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Louis has university degrees in chemistry and engineering, but he's too restless and unfocused to hold down a good job. His nomadic lifestyle, which led him to Australia, and his broken relationships with women contribute to his frequent bouts of "black dog" depression, especially during the difficult medical treatments for his illness. The earthy humor that often peeks through provides much-needed comic relief from the downbeat sections about Louis's deteriorating health, and the brothers' dialogue stands out as authentic and spot-on. The small life rituals, such as the younger brother's hassles when trying to return Louis's broken TV under warranty, take on profound significance as the pair comes to grips with saying their final good-byes. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.