Author: Matthew Quick
Pages: 289
Published: January 2008
Summary: Meet Pat. Pat has a theory: his life is a movie produced by God. And his God-given mission is to become physically fit and emotionally literate, whereupon God will ensure a happy ending for him -- the return of his estranged wife Nikki. (It might not come as a surprise to learn that Pat has spent time in a mental health facility.) The problem is, Pat's now home, and everything feels off. No one will talk to him about Nikki; his beloved Philadelphia Eagles keep losing; he's being pursued by the deeply odd Tiffany; his new therapist seems to recommend adultery as a form of therapy. Plus, he's being hunted by Kenny G!
In this enchanting novel, Matthew Quick takes us inside Pat's mind, showing us the world from his distorted yet endearing perspective. As the award-winning novelist Justin Cronin put it: "Tender, soulful, hilarious, and true, The Silver Linings Playbook is a wonderful debut."
My Thoughts: After being in a four month long reading slump, I have come back with flying colors. I started reading this novel after having fallen in love with the David O. Russell adaptation and when I was struggling to get out of my aforementioned reading slump. I watched, I saw, I loved. Then I decided this past year that it was high time I read the book one of my favorite movies was based upon, so I ponied up and bought the novel.The beginning left a little to be desired, but once I reached the climax of the book I couldn't put it down. Our protagonist, Pat, has such an honest, stream-of-consciousness voice that you can't help but relate to. He is on a mission to win back his estranged wife, Nikki, and ends up befriending a kindred spirit, Tiffany, along the way. Tiffany sometimes serves an antihero, as does Pat at times, however I always found myself cheering on these two birds of a feather the entire time.
The book touches on depression, anxiety, and manic depressive disorder in realistic, believable ways. Almost everyone has seen the effect of these mental illnesses or experienced them themselves, which makes this book all the more relative to what is happening today in society. And seeing the novel through Pat's eyes and his "silver linings" mentality was truly inspiring to me as a reader to search for my own silver linings.
In terms of the movie being a close adaptation of the novel, it dropped some aspects in order to save for time, which is what happens a lot with book to movie adaptations. But honestly, I think I enjoyed the movie more than the book. I found myself getting bored whenever I got to the football parts of the story and that made the story seem to drag in those section. That is not to say that the writing is lacking or anything, it's just slightly easier to follow Pat's journey when the fat was cut in the movie version of Matthew Quick's novel, and they did so without sacrificing the plot and character development that make this story so loveable.
With that being said, I still loved this book. The narration was incredibly well done, the plot was great, and I completely fell in love with Quick's characters. And now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to re-watch "Silver Linings Playbook" for the umpteenth time and swoon over Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper's acting talents every ten minutes.
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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