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Ever since The Incident, James DeWitt has stayed on the safe side, He likes to live his life by knowing what comes next. Danny Allen is hiding from his past and has pretty much giving up on life and all it has to offer. When they both cross paths their lives takes twists and turns that they both were least expecting. Mike is always wise and wonderful, but this is a whole new departure for him - read it!' Jenny Colgan James, oh how my heart broke for him and his family. His sister, mother and father treats him like a small boy and whilst you can completely understand that they want to wrap him in cotton wool and protect him from the world having nearly lost him, reading from James' point of view, you can see why he is utterly frustrated. He is a grown man with adult thoughts and cannot always express how he feels articulately. It is food for thought thinking of those living with acquired brain injury (ABI) and those supporting them. It's a question all of us find ourselves asking at some time and Mike Gayle's powerful, poignant novel answers it with regard to Danny Morgan and James McManus - rivals for top honours in everything throughout their school years in Birmingham. Things can happen in our lives that can change our whole being. Who we are now and who we were meant to be. For James and Danny, this was exactly the case. Two young men coming head on to help each other confront two very different tragedies. If the pair had not met by chance and a change of circumstances in their home lives they would never have met and their lives would have remained the same.
mi však v príbehu prekáža, je azda prílišná podobnosť týchto dvoch priateľov. Jamesovo pomalšie rozprávanie v dôsledku zranení je vidno aj vo vetách, v tom, ako myslí a rozoberá do detailov všetko. Ale keby kapitoly nemali odlíšené v názvoch aj mená oboch protagonistov, ťažšie by sa dali určiť Dannyho myšlienky. On v podstate tiež trpí (duševne) a nikto mu neposkytuje lekársku pomoc. Keby nie Jamesa, tak sa asi ostane zacyklený vo svojich traumách. Vlastne, veľkou pomocou sú aj peniaze, ktoré James predtým zarobil, bez nich by asi všetko bolo niekoľkonásobne ťažšie. Ale teda obaja sú si dosť podobní. It doesn't necessarily take a bad man to commit an action that can have serious repercussions to many: it can just take a good man making a bad decision. There are many touching and heartfelt moments in this novel. I personally loved It. The two begin a friendship where they look out for eachother and where Danny is James's carer. The book is so powerfully written and I got through it in a matter of hours. Mike Gayle represents the world of disability with great accuracy. I do not know people with ABI, but do know many people with different disabilities. I was born with neurological disabilities myself and so know all too well the discrimination that James faced, as I experienced, and experience it, first-hand.
This book felt very different to the majority of the others I've read by Mike Gayle and if this is the new direction he is taking his writing, then I can only applaud him. The Man I Think I Know is a remarkable book that I wish could have continued for longer.
Before I went to university I wanted to be a social worker — I have no idea why. It didn’t last long. What is the path that has brought these two people to this unexpected place, and where will it take them next? What an incredible book! It's so deeply moving and honest. The story alternates between James and Danny and their very different perspectives and problems, both men were such wonderfully vivid and realistic characters that it felt like Gayle was describing a real story. Danny's tale and perspective is brilliantly written, but James's is out of this world. My hat is truly off to Gayle, he's crafted something amazing. When his sister sends James’ mum and dad on a cruise for their anniversary, James is put into a respite home as he is unable to be left on his own. It is here that he meets Danny, a boy he went to a very prestigious school with. James recognises Danny straight away, but Danny pretends not to know him at first. He is ashamed that he has fallen so far from his academic pedestal that he fears he will be judged for being 'only a carer' when he was destined for other things. This story is about friendship in the most hard to find places and the curve balls that life can throw at you in the most brutal an unexpected ways.
Summary
Oh man did this utterly tug at my heart strings. I’ve been a fan of Mike Gayle for years now, but this book utterly blew me away.
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