1 out of 4 stars
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Most authors when trying to construct a plot try to follow one storyline or at least make the book seem coherent enough for readers to enjoy. This job gets a little complicated when an author is working with certain disorders like schizophrenia or Asperger's.
In There and Back There Again, readers can take in Andy Alsup’s full experience and mental dialogue of living with these conditions every day. This book bounces from theme to theme quite often, presented in peculiar ways. Alsup presents these themes in a manner that makes them too intereptable. Like, how Alsup starts off by talking about the constitution, law, and a courtroom. He voices a great distrust in the government and feels that they are trying to take his privacy away from him. He also exhibits distrust in pharmaceutical companies. In addition, there are some biblical references littered throughout the text. Even going far enough to directed quote the text. A common theme I saw throughout Alsup’s work was him responding to ‘people trying to kill him’ or push him to kill himself. This theme echoed with me the most because of my prior knowledge of schizophrenia, and how this may be a common symptom.
Outside of the interesting scope into the author’s mental illness, this novel is quite indigestible. Since there is minimal plot, I could see this as being quite difficult to read. Especially for those who struggle with reading comprehension. This could seem like a lot of incoherent babbling to some if they find themselves lost in Alsup’s sort of mental conversation shown. Also, the text itself had quite a few grammatical errors that contributed to my scoring of the book. It did not appear to have much, if any, editorial work done. Alsup attributes some of this to his style when he compares his writing work to that of Edgar Allen Poe’s. He says that he writes down his thoughts exactly as they come, which is more of a blanket statement for the grammar issues.
All things taken into account, I am going to have to rate this novel 1 out of 4 stars. This is because even though I found some of the content interesting, I still struggled to follow along with the writing. The fact that it felt like multiple voices writing all at once stood as a metaphor to me for what schizophrenia can be like to sufferers. That is why, at first, I thought this was more of a poetic piece than what I know believe it to be. After finishing the novel and researching Andy Alsup, I feel that this was his way of trying to get his experience out to the world.
I would recommend any readers interested in mental health, specifically schizophrenia and/or Asperger’s syndrome, to give this book a look through. Reading something like this can give you insight that no textbook nor article ever could, because of its first-handedness. For example, Alsup has some portions that feel like the reader is on the receiving end of a therapy session. I enjoyed reading this set up the most because it was both intimate about the author’s situation and applicable to a lot of people in the real world. I would also recommend any writers to potential read this book, solely on the fact that I felt like some portions would be helpful for anyone struggling with writer’s block. Not only does the writing propose many ideas, but it also can propose a jumping off point for a lot of dialogue and characters.
All in all, I felt that Andy’s Alsup novel was not unbearable - but I could not pull myself to rating it two stars because of the basic lack of a storyline. I would’ve been able to give it a higher rating if it took a more poetic approach, instead of a journal log book style. I would be willing, though, to read any other material from this author in the future.
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There and Back There Again
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