Could this be a picture of things to come in our society?
The business of psychiatry has changed just a bit. Grief is now big business, and Jonathon is an employee of it. He is a Taker. It is his job to listen and take in and listen to all the grief that ails his clients to give them relief. He isn’t allowed give advice. He does not have the freedom to talk to sympathize with them. He just listens. He doesn’t smile. He doesn’t frown. He isn’t allowed to move or change his facial expressions at all, not even blink. His job is to only listen. That’s it.
There are times that we all need someone to listen to the things that grieve and trouble us. But usually when we want someone to listen to us, we also want their feedback in some way. It was a bit disturbing to read how men devised a way to make money off the grief of people.
I’m not sure which was better: the stuff the clients grieved about or the thoughts that ran through Jonathon’s mind while he listened to them spout off. It is disturbing to say that some of his clients actually reminded me of some people. Hmm. There is a lot of greed in this world. Could this be a hint of things to come?
The clients do not mince words or leave out any details when they spout their grief to Jonathon, nor does Jonathon edit his thoughts. Sometimes his thoughts are funny. Sometimes he wants to slap them around a bit and knock some sense into their heads. Most of all, he wants to be able to just talk to them and really offer some advice.
There was one client, Kieran A., who griefed about spoons. Yes, spoons. The way he rattled off lists of every kind of spoon under the sun put me in mind of Forrest Gump and the guy who talked about all the different kinds of shrimp.
Working in such a depressing business doesn’t take long to wear Jonathon down. His health is affected, as is the way he relates to others. He doesn’t see any way out of his depressing life though, not until he meets one special lady.
Jonathon’s life and emotions are tormented and dark, just as are those of his fellow Takers. This story is written in first person and told from Jonathon’s perspective. It is easy to see his descent into despair and his desire to find a better life.
The ending for me was a bit depressing, but it was very realistic. I’m not sure a fairy tale ending would have been appropriate in a book such as this. It did leave me wondering if Jonathon Mark finds happiness. Maybe a sequel is on its way?
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. If you would like to add a copy of this book to your library, I have provided an Amazon link below.
Amazon link: The Freeing of Jonathon Mark
Recommended Article: Nathan Gross Interview – Life, MS, and Writing
Favorite Lines:
Wasabi coated! Gives off a heat that swamps my tongue, raises the roof of my mouth, spreads up to singe my nose hairs, then just keeps moving with the power of an inversed brain freeze till it breaks through my scalp and fades into the air.
As fast as CUTA raged across my office, I imagine flying across the desk and gouging at Needles’ eyes with my fingernails, ripping his shirt open, tearing chunks of his flesh apart with my teeth, letting fly with elbows in a cannibalistic gore-fest.
Fatima, I want to ask, are the kisses from other men, are they like a forbidden little pleasure you savour like a rich dark chocolate in your mouth for as long as you can?
We can blame our pulped-up fiction society with their phote airbrushing, beauty obsessed, in our face-ramming demands to be the prettiest, the fittest, the best-looking.
New Words Learned:
demylenation – loss of myelin from the nerve sheaths, as in multiple sclerosis
doona – a quilt
hunge – a hundred dollars
manky – worthless, rotten, or in bad taste
Maori shower – When you spray yourself all over with spray-on deodorant as a substitute for having a shower.
merkin – a pubic wig for a female
petulant – irritable, peevish, fretful, pettish, touchy
pruritus -itching
smarm – behavior or speech that is smarmy, obsequiously flattering or unpleasantly suave
spruiked – I was so sure that this word was German, but I was wrong. This is an Australian slang word that means to make or give a speech, especially extensively or elaborately; spiel; orate.
treacle – a mild mixture of molasses, corn syrup, etc., used in cooking or as a table syrup.
unco’ – I could not find the definition for this one. I thought maybe it was a short way of saying “uncouth”, but that just didn’t make sense, not the way it was used. So I wrote to the author and asked him. He believes it is Australian slang for “uncoordinated”. That makes so much more sense.
vaffanculo – an Italian insult
whinge – to complain or whine
About the Author:
Nathan Gross is passionately obsessed with scratching the itch that is his absolute need to write. Whether it be in the form of novels or short stories, film / video scenarios, scripts or songs, writing keeps the demons at bay.
His other published works include Ginger the Carrot, the first in a series of picture books for adults entitled Rotten Veggies, and the song and music video Tais Toi for the musician Monsieur Grandin. He is also the director and scenarist for a number of award winning short films. A collection of his works both written and visual are to be discovered atzamsteepa.com.
Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, Nathan now resides in the south of France.
