Swimming and Flying (Mark Haddon)

--The blurb--
"Prize-winning novelist Mark Haddon, author of THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME and most recently THE RED HOUSE, explores his childhood fear of swimming and his adult fear of flying in a[n..] essay that unfolds into [...] reflections about the craft of writing and about life itself."

--The review--
A quick search on Amazon reveals a staggering choice of nearly 592,000 results in the field of biography - so you'd think that the market was saturated. However, in the midst of all the celebrity fluff and traditional chronological structures has come a breath of fresh air in the form of Mark Haddon's effort, entitled Swimming And Flying. While some cunning individuals have uploaded it to the web as a PDF, it is unfortunately only officially available as a Kindle Single, which is a shame, as this could potentially block out a significant number of Haddon's fans: those who don't own a Kindle, mainly, but also those who just prefer 'real' books.

This is also a great shame due to the fact that Swimming And Flying, as mentioned, truly refreshes the biography genre thanks to its clear yet 'patchwork' style: Haddon's structuring of the text into short passages, rather than chapters, allows for true pauses for thought, and the text's genesis as a series of speeches (or 'stand-up serious', as Haddon himself dubs it) lends this biography an especially intimate, down-to-earth aspect.

There is, equally, plenty of mileage not just in this autobiography's style but also in its premise of 'swimming and flying': while Haddon does address his fears of these two pursuits (as a child and as an adult respectively), the metaphorical translations of 'swimming' and 'flying' through life itself is also heavily implied thanks to Haddon's ability to overcome these fears and to deal with other good and bad times in his life so far. This wide basis of the memoir ensures that all readers will find something within it that they can identify with, and, moreover, repeatedly: the accessible method of using short passages means that rereads are merited, as readers can dip in and out, making further connections between different sections and between the author's life and theirs.

By laying his fears bare, Haddon shows that he is as flawed as anyone else. However, by also showing details of how he has overcome them, he is inspirational without being smug. Tales of determination are always of value - and it is simply to be hoped that this mini-memoir will eventually be published beyond the Kindle Single format, so that many more readers can benefit.

other works by Mark Haddon
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (2003)
A Spot of Bother (2006)
The Red House (2012) 

A Spot of Bother (Mark Haddon)

--The blurb--

"At fifty-seven, George is settling down to a comfortable retirement, building a shed in his garden, reading historical novels, listening to a bit of light jazz. Then Katie, his unpredictable daughter, announces that she is getting remarried, to Ray. Her family is not pleased - as her brother Jamie observes, Ray has 'strangler's hands'. Katie can't decide if she loves Ray, or loves the way he cares for her son Jacob, and her mother Jean is a bit put out by the way the wedding planning gets in the way of her affair with one of her husband's former colleagues. And the tidy and pleasant life Jamie has created crumbles when he fails to invite his lover, Tony, to the dreaded nuptials. Unnoticed in the uproar, George discovers a sinister lesion on his hip, and quietly begins to lose his mind."

--The review--

In trying to write about mental illness, authors arguably set themselves up for an insurmountable task. If they have experienced mental illness themselves they can risk seeming mawkish and narcissistic; if they have not, they risk their portrayal seeming trite or unrealistic. Happily, Haddon seems to have struck a good balance: the speed at which George descends into madness, and the reason for it, appears, you could say to be superficial, silly, or unbelievable. However, the descriptions of George's madness once he is there, and the actions borne of this madness, are so apparently realistic and at times even so gruesome that we are compelled to read on, completely taken in, while at the same time, almost wanting to shut our eyes and skip a few pages and be told when the scary part's over.

The beauty of Haddon's second novel, though, does not just stem from his descriptions of George's mental state - he is only part of his family's unravelling and hapless mess. What all of the conflicts in the book come down to is a total lack of communication between all concerned; predictably, it all erupts in comic style. Even though we know it will all end badly, we carry on reading for the pleasure of Haddon's brilliantly-constructed dénouement. It is a complex narrative that the author does well to bring together, and its gripping nature and deftly-sketched characters mean that you can easily read the whole thing straight through in two or three hours. It also all ends in a very modest and British fashion, with the hero and heroine eating sandwiches and sipping tea in front of the telly and with an "all's well that end's well" kind of feel, like soap opera characters coming to the end of yet another crazy adventure.

While 'A Spot of Bother' is not laugh-out-loud funny, this is recognised by critics and, in any case, is never something the book claims to be - although in televisual format it could have the potential to be so due to comic timing and delivery. However, it is darkly and drily humorous, with Haddon's similes in particular being master strokes that yes, even cause genuine laughter out loud on occasion.

The author's debut, the highly feted Curious Incident, set the bar almost unbearably high. Thankfully, in 'A Spot of Bother' Haddon has possibly not only met but also exceeded expectations, but in an equally different and original way. It appears that Haddon chooses to concentrate mainly on children's literature, and while this is a blessing for our young inheritors, it is rather a shame for us. I do rather hope that the five years that have elapsed since the publication of 'A Spot of Bother' could soon herald a new and much-anticipated volume for adults.