The Silent Patient

"The Silent Patient" is a fast paced page turner that is pretty much unputdownable.The author does well to fill in scenarios with many details like the smell of the room,the surroundings,the arrangement and so on.Thus,most of the time you can clearly see the picture he's painting.However,the book is lined with multiple plotholes.The reason we don't see them immediately is because the narrative keeps jumping between two timelines AND two narrators.You are too involved in both these timelines to note the flaws plus everything moves fast.

The central premise of the book is very interesting.No wonder the reader sinks his teeth right into the narrative.The book unravels like a neatly written screenplay,there is a fairly poetic end too.So what's wrong? Apart from the plotholes,what didn't work for me was the rather disappointing explanation of Alicia's state.She's been sentenced to imprisonment & soon she's dragging her feet among weird characters in extremely bad living conditions.What compels her to stay quiet at all? The book does a bad job of this 'reveal'.It's actually nothing of a reveal even.Since the book derives it's title from this one needed a great reason for the same but alas.Then you have everything anyone does being explained away by their childhoods.The scars are too permanent & strong too make them 'flick a switch' even after decades.The characters aren't black or white,not grey even.Since the plot always calls back to the characters' past we don't even know what's omitted & what's not.Do we know everything we want to know? As I said most explanations and big moments of the book play out as a bit too dramatic & don't evoke any great emotion.There is also this Greek tragedy & a story inside a story attempt that again doesn't pay off.Apart from this,the book has enough glamour elements.I don't know how therapy clinics,therapists or their patients are supposed to be so I can't comment on the accuracy of their portrayal(s) It's like watching a courtroom drama while never having been to court..it's fascinating & novel but you know nothing else.

While reading the book,I was reminded of that line from "Sunset Boulevard" where one producer asks the scriptwriter to write about a psychopath since the audience eats up such material.Maybe that's why this book did so well & continues to.This is a great travel companion & won't take too long to finish.However,the more you think of it the lower goes the plausibility of the many events of the plot.