Could have been worse…

The Moon Represents my Heart
Pim Wangtechawat

Usually, I write these accounts as soon as I’ve finished a book, but I’ve been putting this one off; I finished The Moon Represents my Heart yesterday evening and am only now getting round to writing anything. You see, I know I didn’t bring my best self to this book, and have been reluctant to admit it. I can imagine that, at the right time, I might have been charmed and enchanted by this novel. Unfortunately, this week, when I was a bit tired and a bit frazzled, was not that time.

I became disconcerted early on when I realised that this was a book about time travel. Time travel isn’t really my kind of thing. As I read on, however, I was relieved to discover that it wasn’t really a book about time travel. Yes, the characters are able to time travel and they talk about time travelling and occasionally they travel in time, but at its heart this book is really about grief and relationships, both familial and romantic. So its plot did interest me and I was pleased to discover that I didn’t dislike it as much as I thought I might. Somewhat uncharitably, though, this made me wonder if the time travel was really adding anything or whether the book would have been better off without it. I guess it made it quirkier.

To add to the quirkiness, sections of this book are written in verse. Again, my reaction to this was not initially kind. I couldn’t help but think that the book was trying too hard, showing off with its fancy poetry. In another mood, I may well have felt it was beautifully written. But, as I say, I was tired, and the poetry was making me slow down and work a bit harder, and that just wasn’t welcome.   

In short, had I been in the frame of mind for quirkiness (and I do often like a bit of quirkiness), this book and I might have gotten along fantastically. As it was, we did ok. I didn’t hate it. But I can’t pretend I’m not glad that I can move on and read something different.