Two Minds to Die
More curious however was the ending of Bella's narrative trajectory. Toward the very end of the book, we are privy to even more of Bella's backstory and the introduction of a new key character in Bella's life.
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I couldn't get a grasp on why this was included, unless it was only to set up Martin's ambiguous departure, because it certainly didn't heighten my empathy for Bella in any way and felt like too much of an information dump after the climax of the story. Having finished up the book, I had a quick flick through some similar books of my acquaintance and, as I mentioned at the beginning of the review, books featuring mental illness of one kind or another do tend to blend together after a while. I definitely experienced shades of The Mirror World of Melody Black by Gavin Extence female protagonist with bipolar disorder , Terms and Conditions by Robert Glancy professional male protagonist coming to terms with a change of identity concept and mental trauma , and most obviously, Irvin Yalom's, Lying on the Couch multiple psychiatrists go through various psychiatrist-y problems and as in all of Yalom's work, boobs are mentioned a lot.
If you are looking for a truly original story about the whirlwind of depression, mania and psychosis, then I would suggest trying Kathleen Founds' brilliant When Mystical Creatures Attack! If you are an entry level journeyperson regarding novels about mental health or you have an interest in bipolar disorder, depression and mania generally, definitely give In Two Minds a go.
View all 3 comments. Sep 24, Jill rated it it was ok. Written by a professor of psychiatry, I felt as if I was reading notes from his case studies for much of this novel. In the first pages alternative chapters give detailed accounts of the personalities of Martin Homer, a GP and Bella Donna, a young woman with serious emotional issues. There are occasional asides to discuss the meetings of the Trophettes, a group of women who are fortune hunters and while mildly entertaining it was difficult to see how these asides advanced the plot.
Eventually Written by a professor of psychiatry, I felt as if I was reading notes from his case studies for much of this novel. Eventually, the psychiatric disorders of the two main characters take over the plot and we are taken on a roller-coaster ride which ends in a secure mental health unit. Unfortunately, while the author has copious knowledge of mental illness and its treatment, he is less successful in creating believable characters. Aug 16, Writerful Books rated it it was amazing.
This book by Australian author Gordon Parker blew my mind because it hits home so hard. The novel focuses mainly on two characters, Dr Martin Homer who is married to Sarah and Bella whom he has a brief sexual encounter with while Sarah is on a business trip. Dr Homer prescribes himself tricyclics anti-depressants to deal with the guilt following the death of his mother whom he believes he may have prevented which leads to the unauthorised use of self-prescribed medication pushing him into a This book by Australian author Gordon Parker blew my mind because it hits home so hard.
Dr Homer prescribes himself tricyclics anti-depressants to deal with the guilt following the death of his mother whom he believes he may have prevented which leads to the unauthorised use of self-prescribed medication pushing him into a full-blown manic episode. Read the full review of In Two Minds: Some will anticipate that the roads Martin will travel in the future will be potholed with mental health issues, and they will be right.
We see Bella via her actions, her behaviours, her reactions, her manipulations… the author has created an excellent device to show how mental illness, including depression can affect individuals in different ways. The two protagonists however are equal in the amount of pain they feel. What happens when these two damaged individuals meet is devastating, yet like the drivers on a road compelled to watch the scene of an accident, we are compelled to read on, to watch this crash as it happens; brutal, destructive and bloody. This is an excellent, thought provoking read!
Gordon Parker has taken a socially taboo illness, shone a light on it, personalised it and thereby provided opportunities for further discussion.
Well done Gordon Parker. PS A question for the author — did you deliberately create one empathetic protagonist Martin and one not so for a reason? May 15, Michael rated it it was amazing Shelves: In Two Minds is a sympathetic and highly engaging look at something that most of us will encounter in our lives either personally or with someone we know , mental illness. It also shows how status and sexism clouds are Judgements. Martin Homer is a man with a lot going for him.
In Two Minds
Happily married to the love of his life Sarah, that despite it being childless after numerous failed IVF attempts is as strong as ever. Martin is also a pillar of the community as a highly respected medical practitioner. All of this was achieved despite a traumatic childhood wich seen him lose his sister to cancer as a child, then his father in an attempted murder-suicide. His world though would come crashing down when first the death of his mother seen him fall into the depths of the depression. Then he would meet Bella.
Bella is a damaged woman who on the face of it is manipulative and destructive.
Neil Bonnar (Author of Two Minds to Die)
She has major issues of her own and when she and Martin meet the fallout could be disastrous for the two of them. With Martin's motives explained by descending into a manic state, it is easy to have sympathy, despite what he does that puts his marriage and his livelihood at stake. Bella on the other hand, because nothing is revealed about her background, it is much harder to not see her as an individual who acts without conscience and as a result, be the barrage of sexist labels. In truth, she is someone who has an overwhelming need to be loved. I do wonder why the author chose the withhold the information on Bella background.
It did achieve its goal if it was to put us the reader in two minds. At times it made me laugh with the quirkiness of the characters, at other times made me sad with Sarah having to pick up the pieces of Martin's encounter with Bella, and also the one-way streak on the way Bella was regarded. Overall this is an excellent look at why we as a community need to have a better overall understanding of mental illness and not judge people without fully understanding the complete picture. Oct 20, Rach Denholm rated it liked it.
I read this to try to understand more about bipolar and mental health. The literary aspect of the book wasn't great. I understood the central characters and how their mental health issues developed and were managed, but it didn't really answer the big picture questions about bipolar that I have. All it really did was give me insight into the one character and how his illness developed and affected his life.
I was hoping that Parker would have given a more general perspective Professor Gordon Pa I read this to try to understand more about bipolar and mental health. I enjoyed this book, but felt it was almost non-fiction at times. It seemed the author, a professor of psychiatry, was sorting through his patient files in order to give us a real life picture of mental illness in the form of a novel, with education as high on his agenda as entertainment.
But regardless of this it was an enjoyable read, particularly for medical tragics like me. May 05, Sue Gerhardt Griffiths rated it really liked it Shelves: Oh my, I have so many emotions running through me after reading this book. Not an easy read but one that can benefit anyone wanting to know about mental illness and how it affects loved ones too. An exceptional, thought provoking read! Quite a moving and believable account of the effect mental illness can have on someone's life. May 21, Kaitie rated it liked it.
An unusual read, but interesting. I was a bit troubled by the book until it got a lot closer to the end. Whilst we were able to get inside Martin's head, and he was presented as a pretty nice fella, this was definitely not the case for Bella. I was thinking that perhaps women were not thought of very highly in this novel, with Bella and her "Borderline Personality", and the team of wealthy ladies actively looking for ways to profit from their husbands' demise maybe it's a class thing, but I've An unusual read, but interesting.
I was thinking that perhaps women were not thought of very highly in this novel, with Bella and her "Borderline Personality", and the team of wealthy ladies actively looking for ways to profit from their husbands' demise maybe it's a class thing, but I've never met any women quite like that, let alone a mobilised and organised group! I also felt that whilst Bella definitely had her share of issues, she was allocated a disproportionate share of the blame for the chaos that surrounded her. In fact, there was a lot of external dysfunction that allowed her behaviour to flourish Martin's issues; lecherous male staff members; poor recruitment and performance management processes, and so on.
However, it was refreshing to obtain an alternative view of Bella through the more compassionate lens of Jameson at the end of the novel, including his astute observation that the people surrounding Bella did a lot to reinforce her "life script". Shannon rated it it was amazing Oct 23, Marci rated it liked it Mar 16, Julianne rated it really liked it May 01, An earlier reviewer made it half way through this book.
I'm impressed by his staying power. This started off as "so bad it's amusing" and declined from there. I made it a third of the way through before giving up in disgust. Let's not mince words. This book is awful.
Man Of Two Minds
A good book has a solid plot, interesting characters and great writing. The plot here is so ridiculous a magic potion that - if injected into the skull - creates mind clones that It's not worth mentioning. And the character issues are perfectly illustrated by the hero of the piece.
Marcus Fieldman is tall, handsome, clever, and definitely not gay. He's so not gay that he tells you twice in the opening chapters.
What's more, this straight football-hooligan-hard-man-cum-local-journalist dwells on how pretty his mother is, before beating up a spy and then being saved from assassins by a motorbike crashing through a pub window. I honestly can't tell you how badly this book is written. This is a case study in tell, don't show.
No emotion goes unannounced, each action is forewarned and motivations are proudly screeched across the page in an unrelenting monotone. It's amazing how the dialogue is able to be so flat and devoid of life when the narrative prose suffers from the exact opposite problem. The author seems to have collected every superflous adjective, every morsel of overly-flowery prose and every nugget of cliche he could scrape from the bins outside a creative writing workshop and wedge them into pages of unrelenting dross.
As a thriller it's turgid and unengaging, as a sci-fi concept it's ludicrous and as entertainment it's a failure. Even if you transplanted the writer's brain into my body, I couldn't recommend this. One person found this helpful. Top-rated Most recent Top-rated. All reviewers Verified purchase only All reviewers All stars 5 star only 4 star only 3 star only 2 star only 1 star only All positive All critical All stars All formats Format: There was a problem filtering reviews right now.
Please try again later. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. There was a problem loading the comments at the moment. Ridiculous plot but it's very readable, though I've not finished it yet , I bought the book after reading a review in the Bolton News, the paper Neil works for and I have to say I'm enjoying it so far even though the plot is so silly. One of the other reviews on here is written by one of his fellow Bolton News writers, Angela Kelly, so it needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. I binned it about halfway through. I hope I didn't pay for this one.