I reviewed Sweeties by Leon Silver for the Writers NSW in May 2017. Its stream-of-consciousness narrative and flowing prose reminded me of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road.

One “ordinary Monday morning”, the story’s protagonist, 67-year-old Abel Marvin, suffers a heart attack while swimming his regular laps.

But before death takes Abel, the spirit of a white-clad nurse appears and announces: “You can’t exit yet, mate, have you given a full account of yourself?”. The book then proceeds in a dreamlike fashion to replay the key events of Abel’s life.

When I finished Sweeties, I turned to the back cover and learned Abel was in a coma in the book. Reading the narrative I had imagined Abel’s life flashing before his eyes as he neared death in the pool. Nonetheless, either scenario works for me.

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Reliving my dreams

I enjoyed reading and reviewing Sweeties and some nights, after reading the book at bedtime, it had me reliving my own life in my dreams. Sometimes that was pleasant and other times it was disturbing!

Have you ever read a book that’s had you relive your life in your dreams as Sweeties did for me?

© 2017 Robert Fairhead 

N.B. My review of Leon Silver’s Sweeties is also published on the Tall And True writers’ website. And you might like another blog post, The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict (August 2017), on a book review done by a fellow Writing NSW reviewer, Kristyn M. Levis

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