I’ve read The Good Mayor (which I loved) and The Life and Death of Caterina (which I liked, but not as much), so when I saw this one I just had to read it.
Here’s the blurb …
‘I want people to know how Otto Witte, acrobat of Hamburg, became the crowned king of Albania.’ Otto Witte is an old man. The Allies are raining bombs on his city and, having narrowly escaped death, he has come home to his little caravan to drink what remains of his coffee (dust) and wait for the inevitable. Convinced that he will not see the sunrise, he decides to write the story of his life for the poor soul who finds what’s left of him come the morning. And it’s quite a story. Years earlier, when he was in either Buda or Pest, working at the circus, a dear friend brought him the newspaper. Inside was an article about how Albania was looking for a particular Turkish prince, because the country was in need of a new king. This Turkish prince is the image of Otto…A plan is formed; adventure, disaster, love and sheer, unabashed hope await. If You’re Reading This, I’m Already Dead is a joy to read; accomplished and full of the warmth, honesty and lightness of touch for which Andrew Nicoll is known and loved.
This was a swashbuckling read full of adventure, derring-do and a camel. It was a fun, light-hearted read that was also well written. I could imagine it being made into a movie along the lines of The Princess Bride. However, there are hidden depths that could keep a book club going for a while. Finally a novel that is fun to read and has serious themes.
More reviews …
http://thatbookyoulike.wordpress.com/tag/if-youre-reading-this-im-already-dead/
http://www.ellenarnison.com/2012/07/andrew-nicolls-if-youre-reading-this-im.html
Thanks very much! And I could not agree more with what you say about books that are enjoyable for the reader. I’m sick to the back teeth with worthy, didactic pish (invariably written in some mangled, convoluted version of the present tense) where all the story has been carefully excised. Enough miserable drunks and angry lesbians sitting in a damp cellar watching mould form as they internalize the dialectic of the proletariat, away with them! Everybody but the literary critics is sick of that stuff. That’s why the only thing that sells is slasha shocka detective novels – because people know they are guaranteed a story. But story was good enough for Homer, Shakespeare, Dickens, Conrad, Greene and it’s good enough for me. Thanks again.
All the best,
Andrew
Wow – thanks for commenting. Racquel