I'm a fairly observant person, more so than most, but it's not, like, my super-power or anything. I've noticed that lately I've been drawn to novels centered around the lives of agoraphobic writers, and that I find that lifestyle particularly intriguing. I realize that it's an illness and not a chosen lifestyle, but it's oddly appealing to me, enough so that I might give it a whirl if my own writing starts paying the bills one day. The idea runs counter to my love and joy of hiking, but not in my head; give me a secluded mountain cabin next to a lake any day of the week.
In Melanie Raabe's book, The Trap, Linda Conrads has more of a giant, terraced, house next to a lake that she hasn't left since the grizzly murder of her sister twelve years before. She swears that she locked eyes with Anna's killer before he fled the scene, never to be caught, despite years of dealing with panic attacks and a general deterioration of her mental well-being. Not necessarily agoraphobic, but in constant fear that the murderer will come back for her - the sole witness - Linda makes the choice to retreat into her house, supporting herself by churning our a few best-selling novels every year. Then she suddenly comes face to face with those killer eyes she saw all those years ago, only this time on her television screen in the form of a reporting war correspondent.
How unfair that he lives a life of ultimate, exaggerated freedom while her sister is dead and she is locked in her own thoughts and fears! So Linda sets about writing a new novel - a thriller - in hopes of manipulating him into a confession. What follows is an intense, gripping, cat-and-mouse of the minds, that leaves us readers un-sure of what, exactly, is real.
A German book turned to English, though nothing seems to get lost in translation, the writing is a bit jerky, which only lends itself to the suspenseful, mysterious shroud that engulfs both the main novel and the novel within the novel. A true testament to Raabe's talent, both books are certifiable page-turners, and constantly keep you guessing, but is more propulsive than the simple shocking twist that seems to be the requisite for thrillers these days. Are we witnessing the ultimate mental breakdown of a woman controlled by fear, or the rebirth of a woman who is struggling to gain control over a situation that has largely controlled her? In that vein, there are frustrating moments in the here-is-what-happened-just-kidding sort of way, and that is repeated several times over, making the story a constant stream of roller-coaster rides. In another testament to Raabe's talent, though, these perpetual roller-coasters are well-executed and don't make the reader sick, just entertained. It is incredibly engrossing and, without even realizing, you're suddenly on page 275.
The way in which Raabe is able to depict a woman struggling with her own truths is imagery at it's finest, which we usually think of in terms of landscapes. But the way Raabe is able to construct the landscape of the mind, especially one bruised by stress and trauma, is like nothing I have ever read before. And the novel speaks largely to our own never-ending troubles with thinking we know the truth, observing others and trying to determine if they are manipulating us, and how outside influences often inflame our already-harbored insecurities. Perhaps that is why the idea of a life as a recluse is so intriguing.
It is also very interesting the way in which she crafts her characters as how she wants us to see them, not how we're able to relate to them ourselves; we learn just what Conrads wants to show us, only thickening the mystery. The entire book is every ending to every thriller you've ever read - one long, tense, suspenseful ending with every turn of the page.
On a more personal note, I found The Trap to be a bit of an inspiration, and not in the hermit sense. Like I said, I would love to make a living off my writing, and to have a book that would be deemed worthwhile. But writing a novel seems like such an unbelievably daunting task; again, running counter to my joy and love of hiking. But after participating in a webinar with best-selling author, Alessandra Torre, and after reading how Linda Conrads crafts her story one scene at a time, and given my latest penchant for stories about reclusive writers, a fire, so-to speak, has been ignited and it finally feels like something I could possibly do and it not be too terrible. Furthermore, The Trap, reminded me that while writing can be a form of therapy for the writer, it can also very much be a way for us to get what we want where we didn't before.
No comments:
Post a Comment