Das Jahr, das zwei Sekunden brauchte (Gekürzte Fassung)

Geschrieben von Rachel Joyce

Erzählt von Wanja Mues

Niemand hat das Mädchen mit dem roten Fahrrad gesehen. Nur der elfjährige Byron, der mit seiner Mutter im Wagen sitzt, als der Unfall im dichten Nebel geschieht. Byron weiß sofort: Er darf keinem etwas davon erzählen. Doch in nur zwei Sekunden ist die ganze Welt aus den Fugen geraten - und es wird mehr als ein halbes Leben dauern, bis sie wieder in den Takt kommt. Mit ihrer zarten, glasklaren Sprache zieht uns Rachel Joyce ins Herz der Zeit und erzählt von einem ewigen Sommer, vierzig kurzen Jahren und zwei lebenslangen Sekunden.

• Sprache: Deutsch
• Herausgeber: Argon Verlag
• Erscheinungsdatum: 21. Nov. 2013
• ISBN: 9783839812686

Rezensionen für Das Jahr, das zwei Sekunden brauchte (Gekürzte Fassung)

[tina1969_1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

Two seconds of time are going to be added and this will change the life of Byron and his friend James.This was a book of two halves for me. Part of the story was about one summer when Byron and James were children, and the rest of the story was about Jim. For me I felt I was plodding along with this book but was determined to finish it. I enjoyed the story of Byron and James better than Jim's story. I wanted to see how it was going to pan out and what was going to happen to Byron's mom. I did guess the sort of twist and it didnt really make the book.This for me wasn't a brilliant read but there was enough for me to keep going. I haven't read any other books by this author snd I am not reallt inspired to either. This book was ok and was something different for a change, but not for me

[lindaweeks · Bewertung: 2 von 5 Sternen]

This was no Harold Fry.

[casualfriday_1 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

I picked up this book through the emails I get from BookBub, and I’m so glad I did. It’s a perfectly crafted little novel, set in England, which tells the story of how a random accident changes the life of a little boy. Byron’s mother, an ex-actress in a troubled marriage with a controlling and socially ambitious jerk, bumps into a little girl with her car and, unknowingly, drives off. Byron realizes what has happened and encourages his mother to right her wrong. Meanwhile, alternating chapters tell the story of Jim, a lonely adult with severe OCD. It’s a beautifully written and subtle book, with enough ambiguity to make it a good book discussion pick.

[iambookish-1 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

I know it's only January, but I feel like I've already found my book of the year! An extremely well written novel, that slowly reveals itself with each page read. Told in alternating chapters that switch between 1972 and present day, it's hard to figure out what the connection will be between the two plot lines as the content seems incongruous, which only made me want to finish the book that much faster.

[oldblack-1 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

My feelings about this novel are somewhat mixed, but I reckon the overall theme and the way it is woven into the story gives the book enough power to justify a 4 star rating. My main reservations are in relation to my perception that for much of the story many of the characters stray too much towards caricatures rather than real people. I'm thinking very much of the 'family' of Beverley, Walt & Jeanie, and the 'other mothers' . But all of Joyce's books have this feature...Harold Fry and Queenie Hennessy are *just* believable too. The essential questions asked by the novel are definitely worth considering and for me Joyce has had a good go at addressing them in a way which I found personally meaningful.

[stephengoldenberg · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

An entertaining summer read but I found it rather formulaic and nowhere near as original as her first novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. The formula is the familiar territory of telling the story from the point of view of a very intelligent child. The parallel modern day narrative from the point of view of a mentally disturbed adult is also an over familiar trope but, having said all that, the story is well enough told to hold the interest

[mamashepp · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

This would make a great book club selection - so many different facets to the book.

[shetreadssoftly · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Let me start with an affirmation: Perfect by Rachel Joyce is every bit as good as her debut novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

Perfect is set in Britain and follows two different storylines. In the first it is 1972 and 11-year-old Byron Hemmings has several things he is concerned about. First his best friend, James Lowe, tells him that two seconds are going to be added to the official time to balance things on this leap year. Byron knows that two seconds may seem inconsequential, but two seconds can make a huge difference. They can mean taking a firm step or stumbling off the edge of a cliff. While James and his mother, Diana, don't seem too concerned, a day comes when those two seconds changed the life of Byron's family. While driving Byron and his younger sister to school in the fog his mother hits a child on a bicycle. The only problem is that she didn't realize it happened and only Byron saw the accident. Should he tell her?

Alternating chapters are set in the present and follow the life of Jim, a man in his fifties with OCD. Jim has been in and out of the mental health system and endured many rounds of electroconvulsive therapy. His current job is as a table washer at a local cafe. He stutters badly and has a difficult time dealing with people, although he desperately tries to get along as best as he can.

It soon becomes clear to the reader that Byron's family is much more dysfunctional than even he realizes and it doesn't take much to topple the tightly regimented routine his mother keeps in order to endure his controlling and older father, who only comes to the country estate to see his family on the weekends. In the meantime Byron and James start "Operation Perfect," a plan to protect Diana, who James worships from afar.

Joyce keeps the pace moving and I just flew through Perfect racing to see what was going to happen next in the two storylines. All of the chapters set in 1972 are seen through Byron's eyes so, while he is observant, he doesn't always recognize the reality of what is going on around him, although he does, with James's help, have some keen insights. He loves his mother and sees her through those eyes rather than how she is viewed by his classmates mothers. Jim's situation is heartbreaking as he struggles along as best he can.

I might as well admit that I was a sobbing mess at the end of this novel. Yes, it is that good. I think I even liked it more than Harold Fry and I liked Joyce's first novel a whole lot. Joyce manages to portray her character's personalities and actions while describing the settings flawlessly. Even when propelling the story forward through the voice of an 11 year-old she manages to capture a sense of depth and purpose. She slowly shows us the steps toward the both of the unfolding tragedies that seem to be looming on the horizon. Perfect is permeated with an overwhelming sadness(thus the crying going on here) though there is redemption at the end.

The writing is superb. It is perfect. I wouldn't change a word. I loved this novel

Very Highly Recommended
Disclosure: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher and TLC for review purposes.

[squirrelhead_1 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Another good read from Rachel Joyce. I enjoyed her first novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Frye, and Perfect has a similar pattern of writing. There is a twist at the end.You read the story and get invested in the characters, seeing things from several very different points of view. Then just near the end key points of information are revealed and everything falls into place. Reading about the best friends, Byron and James, and Byron’s mother Diana who is accurately described as a “poem” you think you know where our characters will end up. Again, just as Joyce did in her first novel, there are twists and you’ll have surprises.The year is 1972. James Lowe and Byron Hemmings are best friends. They are both intelligent boys attending a prestigious school, their middle to upper class lives plodding along without incident. James is the more science minded of the two boys; he tells Byron about a story he’d read in the paper about the atomic clock not being in sync with the Earth’s rotation. Scientists decided to move the atomic clock up 2 seconds and correct the discrepancy. Byron gets in a quiet panic about this messing about with time and fears life as they know it will be altered in a way with horrific consequences.One morning on the way to school he thinks he sees his watch hands move backward. He shoves his watch into his mother’s face and she is momentarily distracted, hitting a young girl riding a tricycle. Diana doesn’t see the girl or know about the accident. Byron tells her to continue driving and panics that his mother will be charged. He keeps all this to himself and internalizes his feelings until it builds up and he confides the scene to James. When Byron eventually let it all slip to his mother, Diana, it changes her life. She stops doing everything. There are no hot meals, no buttons sew on clothing, the garden is left to go wild and she is in a depression.To make amends for the accident and running off, she contacts the parents of the little girl and tries to set things right. Interspersed with this story line are chapters featuring a man named Jim. He suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder and is trying to make a life outside of the institution where he had spent the last 38+ years. You are left to wonder through 3/4ths of the book if Jim is in fact James Lowe. I won’t give a spoiler because the way this weaves together in the last two chapters ties up all the loose ends.If you liked the British prose of Rachel Joyce with her Harold Frye book, you will most likely enjoy this story as well.Not many food scenes but here are a few items mentioned:Mushroom vol-au-vent was served at a party hosted by Byron’s parents. His father, Seymour, overhears a guest whispering “New money” to a friend just as he is about to bite into a Mushroom vol-au-vent. It ruined his appetite to know he wasn’t accepted by this elite society.A benefit concert where the ladies brought Tupperware boxes of salad and cakes. There was coleslaw, Russian salad, deviled kidneys, cheese straws, stuffed grapes, olive, mushrooms and prunes. The food was unpacked at the garden table.Also mentioned were tomato soup, a prawn cocktail and Turkey supreme.I made a mushroom vol-au-vent as an appetizer. Recipe may be found at Squirrel Head Manor.

[jayne_charles_1 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Such a brilliant, quirky book, but then any book that references the Eurovision Song Contest on the very first page is OK with me. It has the faintest suggestion of the supernatural about it: the sense that this is the real world but somehow tilted about its axis. There was some superb detail - the sort of thing that plot-wise was unimportant and yet was everything to the book's tone. Byron's French-speak with his schoolfriend, and his failure to draw someone's face accurately, resulting in him having to draw whiskers on it and pretend he observed a stray cat. The beautiful descriptions of the moorland setting, and the comedy characters Paula and Darren. There is a twist that some may guess - I didn't - and the welcome setting of the 1970s which lent it a pleasant sense of nostalgia. I will definitely seek out this author's other work.

[sleahey_3 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

Two very bright childhood friends are fascinated by time, and when Byron learns that two seconds are going to disappear to even out the year, he fixates on what will happen to those seconds. At the same time, his mother causes an accident while he is in the car, but he is the only one who sees what happens, leading to serious repercussions in his family. Chapters about Byron as a boy are interspersed with the story of Jim, more than 40 years later. He has been in and out of a psychiatric hospital over the years, and now that it is closed he is forced to try to survive in the world in spite of his obsessive compulsion disorder and social anxiety. By the second third of the book, it seemed belabored to me, and it was all too easy to skip sections, although I did care enough to find out what happened in the end.

[lizchris_1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

I found this readable but disagree with many of the glowing reviews here. The two parallel stories became distracting for me. I felt we were being asked to work out how they connected to each other but that, ultimately, it wasn't that interesting a connection. One for the beach.

[needmoreshelves · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

After becoming a fan of Joyce's work through her first novel, I eagerly anticipated the chance to read her second. It was quickly clear that in this book, the author is telling a very different story. In Harold Fry, the reader is given a sense almost from the beginning that THIS story, no matter its twists and turns, will end up okay. Perfect starts with a very different tone - the reader knows right away that this is not going to be a happily-ever-after.It is a book about brief moments - about tiny, seemingly insignificant events, which alter the course of the world for one young boy during one long summer. Joyce unfolds her story slowly, with chapters alternating between Byron, the young boy, and Jim, a troubled adult man who remembers that summer as well. These alternating viewpoints can at times make the narrative seem a bit stiff, but as the novel progresses it becomes clear why each is critical to the ultimate resolution."It is indeed a small thing, that Eileen prefers frost to snow, but it is in these, he realizes, these smallnesses, that make up the big things. Besides, the big things in life do not present themselves as such. They come in the quiet, ordinary moments - a phone call, a letter - they come when we are not looking, without clues, without warning, and that is why they floor us. And it can take a lifetime, a life of many years, to accept the incongruity of things; that a small moment can sit side by side with a big one, and become part of the same." (p. 270)Joyce tackles a myriad of big topics - class and society, guilt and innocence, mental illness, love and sacrifice - and weaves a tale that is intimate and personal. Readers can't help but feel sympathy for Byron, his mother, and Jim, as each character is forced to deal with events that are clearly more than they can handle. That the tragedy near the end, which almost feels inevitable, does not leave the novel with a sense of despair is a tribute to the author's skill. This is an excellent book, and while some fans of Joyce's work may be expecting something different, I believe this novel is ultimately just as powerful as her first. This author has found a place on my "must-read" list. Recommended.(I recieved a review copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.)

[tloeffler_3 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Byron Hemmings and James Lowe are great friends. Life goes along nicely until one day, when an accident happens that changes everything. The chapters alternate between 1972 and now, so we watch as consequence leads to consequence, and wonder how the current state got to be that way. Well-written, and once it gets started, it's hard to put down. Highly recommended!

[thelostentwife · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Rachel Joyce has been on my radar for a while now. I remember the first time I saw the cover of her first book, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - I was completely smitten with it. In fact, I fell in love with it so much that I have yet to pick up the book for fear that it won't live up to the cover. But then, I picked up Perfect, excited to see it offered by NetGalley, and I was immediately sucked into the story. The premise: two boys in 1972 and a problem with time, appealed to me and I couldn't wait to find out what exactly the big mystery was.story of the story as well as the modern day problems of Jim. I sympathized with the boys and wondered just when the mystery surrounding James would be completely revealed. I was, frankly, obsessed. I stayed up late to find out just what would happen and I will say that it was totally worth the reveal.Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife on April 16, 2014.

[rlangston-1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

Not as good as Harold Fry, but an interesting story. Felt it needed a bit of polishing in places to pull strands together a bit more. Too many themes felt unexplored or explored in the wrong way eg Byron's friendship with James focussed on the mundane, and did not reflect the importance it subsequently had. Byron's parents were key characters but their role in the story did not reflect this.

[bookappeal · Bewertung: 2 von 5 Sternen]

Perhaps I was hoping for another touching story like Joyce's The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry but this story just left me feeling cold. The novel has an ethereal feeling that some readers may enjoy but I found it curiously not-engaging. Early on, I suspected something about one of the main characters that turned out to be true so the big reveal at the end was not a surprise. Harold Fry's pilgrimage also fell into some dull moments but Byron's and Jim's journeys are even more plodding. And where Harold's journey ended in redemption, this ending is uninspired.

[jpporter · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

This is an exceptional story that details the psychological breakdown of the members of a dysfunctional family. It is told from the perspective of two people: Byron, a young boy who watches the gradual breakdown of his mother - something for which he blames himself; Jim, an emotionally broken man who is left to fend for himself when the psychiatric "home" where he'd lived for years is closed. Both characters are portrayed sensitively as people caught up in a world they have trouble understanding and in which they cannot seem to fit. Rachel Joyce has produced a marvelous book - well-written, clearly articulated, and meticulously structured. All that, plus an incredible twist at the end. I highly recommend this book.

[stephanieloves · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

1970's England. Fancy jaguars parked in the garages of upperclass suburban homes. Mothers in dainty white gloves wiping the sugar off their children's mouths. Fathers returning on the weekends with their briefcases in one hand, while expecting a shot of scotch from the bottle in the cabinet, in the other. This is the scene in which the primary portion of Perfect is set.Upon witnessing a terrible lapse of time and in awareness, Byron Hemmings is caught in between the worlds of childhood and adulthood, as he is reluctantly forced to make a choice: reveal this secret about his precious, faultless mother, Diana, or keep quiet in his own mind forever. When his genius friend, James, excitedly concocts a plan to fix this intangible error, Operation Perfect is born; as the judgment of two adolescent boys goes, the procedure will either go according to plan, just as imagined in their hands... or it will end it utter disaster.Byron's balmy, yet increasingly paranoiac summer days, are interspersed with Jim's portion of the story, set in a bitter present-day winter. Jim is a middle-aged obsessive-compulsive, who lives in a van, who works as a busboy, and whose condition worsens when reminiscing about his past and his haunting experience at Besley Hill, the sanitarium he was shoved into as a teenager.The two seemingly unrelated narratives catch up to each other in a collision of time; they swerve together and explode into one another in a fateful, alarming twist that will leave readers breathless. For the majority of the novel, however, the prose is—however flowery and fanciful—languidly, almost sluggishly, set. I found Joyce's writing enjoyable, but very thick and puzzling, especially in the first half. Almost Ian McEwan-esque, her prose isn't particularly difficult to get through, but at times it was just thoroughly boring, which is why it took me a while to finish.In characterization, in plot, and in tone, however, Perfect is a masterpiece. Each of the characters, even the ones that only make small appearances, are so vivid and intimately portrayed. Readers will cherish the characters they are meant to like, and loathe the ones they are meant to dislike. The eerily calm but inherently alarming mood sets up a domestically freakish story; while plain and placid in technique and style, the undertones of Perfect not only illuminate upon values of mistakes, redemption, and the human condition, but also bewilder, perplex. This is definitely a book that makes you think hard.Pros: Substantial, exquisite writing // Contains one of the most elegantly executed, shocking plot twists ever // Deeply meaningful // The way Byron's mind runs in fascinating // All the characters are fabulously depicted; I fell in love with the protagonists and hated the antagonists deeplyCons: Very confusing at first // Moves extremely slowly, even in the end // I liked the prose but it was a little sludgyVerdict: The injustices of adulthood and the restrictive bindings of upperclass society are brought to light in Rachel Joyce's newest British novel. Byron Hemmings's brilliantly fleshed, intimately portrayed character will make you think twice about the role of children, the responsibility of—or vindication from—accidents, and the faults of trust—the faults of humanity. One young boy's naïveté and misplaced guilt, as well as his mother's faultless crime, ignite this slow deterioration of an outwardly immaculate, perfect household. With grand allusions to the philosophy of time and the significance of deep thinking, Perfect questions the disastrous consequences of our every choice.Rating: 8 out of 10 hearts (4 stars): An engaging read that will be worth your while; highly recommended.Source: Complimentary copy provided by publisher via tour publicist in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, Random House and TLC!).

[staciele · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

The British author of THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY has written her newest novel, PERFECT. In PERFECT, we are taken to an English village in 1972, and an 11-year old boy finds out from a friend that the government is adding two seconds to a day, therefore altering time. Byron and his friend James become so wrapped up in the idea and when it is going to happen, that it ends up encompassing their lives. One morning, on the way to school, Byron notices his watch is adding the two seconds. He leans over and shows his mom, who is driving at the time, and she ends up hitting a little girl on a bicycle and then driving off. Even though it is foggy and Byron is sure that he saw the accident, he can't believe his mom would just drive off. Byron and James are so horrified and worried about the girl that "Operation Perfect" is enacted to protect Byron's mother from facing the consequences. At the same time, another story is being told in alternating chapters. This story is sent in the present time in the same English village. An adult man, Jim, lives a life confined by his daily rituals and past demons. At first we don't know the connection between the two stories, but as the story goes on, you begin to make assumptions about who this adult man is. Then, when you find out the true connection between the two stories, you want to go back and read everything again. Byron is so caught up in the idea of the "supposed" adding of the two seconds that it consumes his daily thoughts and activities. He can't understand why no one else is upset about it and why there is nothing in the news about it. His father is gone during the week and only home on weekends and when he is, he has no time for his family, except to tell them what they are doing wrong. So, Byron is left to discuss the two seconds only with his friend, James, whom he sees at school. Byron is so concerned because he believes it is the difference between something happening and something not happening. Unfortunately, because of these two seconds something does happen and changes all of their lives forever. After the accident, Byron struggles with asking his mom about it, wondering if someone can be guilty without knowing they were guilty. He worries about the little girl and wonders if she was hurt. He constantly checks the car for damage and the newspapers for stories on the accident. As you read along, you begin to feel the overwhelming anxiety that both Byron and James are feeling. You become frustrated with the submissiveness of Diana, the mother and the absence of Seymour, the controlling father. As Diana carries on with her daily routine, you wonder if Byron imagined the accident or Diana is that afraid of the consequences or of her husband. Then you meet the society ladies, friends of Diana. Byron tries to listen in to their conversations to see if others are talking about the accident. The ladies remind me more of 1950's ladies than women of the 1970's, but maybe America was farther ahead than the English in the feminist movement at that time.As you get wrapped up in Byron's story, and then start a new chapter, you wonder why we are learning about this other character. Jim lives in a van, is socially awkward, and is overwhelmed by his OCD characteristics. His story was mostly uninteresting to me until the end of the book. Jim has had a disturbing history and his co-workers try to help him. His years at the psychiatric hospital keep coming back in his mind and you wonder if his psychosis is due to his past or his electric shock treatment that he received. His story opens your eyes to the horrors of psychiatric hospitals and the patient's life after discharge. PERFECT wasn't the "perfect" book for me, but saying that, there were many parts of it that I did love. Her writing was poetic and there were many thought-provoking lines that caused me to pause and consider the statement. Joyce was frequently able to paint a picture in my mind of Byron's house and their land near the Moor or Jim's van, that was his home. I loved this description of an evening:Apart from the buffeting wind, the lack of sound up here is breathtaking. For awhile neither of them speaks. They just push slowly against the wind. It charges at their bodies and whistles through the long grasses with the rage of the sea. There are many stars sprinkled like embers over the sky....the horizon is rimed with orange light. It is streetlamps, but you might think it was a fire, somewhere very far away. Page 253I think this story would work well for book clubs. Mothers will find themselves struggling with the weight on Byron's shoulders and then unable to comprehend the lack of intuition by his mother. There could be much discussion on the marriage between Seymour and Diana, Jim's hospital care, the society ladies and their views on life, and how you realized the two stories are connected. PERFECT will likely appeal to many readers. I found I liked the beginning and the ending the most, but the middle was a struggle for me. For those who appreciate literary prose and a deeply rooted storyline, PERFECT could be just the "perfect" read.

[jmchshannon · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

There is a particular truth about being the oldest sibling in a family. There is a heightened awareness of responsibility that does not exist in younger siblings. There is also, typically, a close bond with at least one parent. Poor Byron epitomizes these characteristics. He adores his mother and will do almost anything to make sure she remains happy. In fact, he views it as his duty to protect her from sadness. For an eleven-year-old boy, this means nothing but undue stress and terrible consequences when a particular situation spirals out of his childhood control. His inability to prevent bad things from happening to his family heightens the sense of unfairness at a chance circumstance with devastating consequences.James is an interesting complement for Byron. He is Sheldon to Byron’s Leonard – the practical, logical one as opposed to Byron’s intense emotional responses. He is the one with the plans to help protect Byron’s family; he provides the guidance and reassurance Byron needs to complete his plans. He is an old soul. That he may be out of his depth in Byron’s situation never crosses his mind, and he approaches this most adult of circumstances with a precocious sagacity that borders on humorous. Their friendship is as touching as the end results are inevitable.The true awfulness of Perfect is not what happens to Byron and his family. It is not even how much Byron struggles to maintain the status quo. It is the fact that two little boys are caught up into an entirely adult situation of which they have no hope of fully understanding or preventing. They can see that things are heading downward but they do not have the worldly knowledge to understand why or how to prevent it. Their hearts are in the right place, but they can affect no preventative measures to halt the situation’s descent. Therein also lays the beauty of Perfect for, regardless of their impotence, their desire serves as a touching reminder of the inherent goodness of children.Perfect is the tragic story of misunderstandings, misplaced hopes, and unrequited dreams, of friendship and love, of expectations versus reality, of guilt and innocence, of responsibility and of consequences. Byron’s struggles to keep his world from falling to pieces are at once heartbreaking and endearing. His seriousness is charming, but it is his devotion to his mother where readers fall in love with him. Conversely, Jim’s own adulthood battles form their own tragedy. Ms. Joyce excels at peeling back each layer of cause and effect to highlight its lasting impact on the characters, while her gorgeous phrasing enlivens not only the dialogue but also the entire setting. Her excellent use of the multiple narrator/dual time period serves to heighten the considerable tension and drama. With its lasting discussions of guilt and innocence, Perfect is the type of story that compels and haunts.

[greatimaginations · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

Oh, Perfect. I really wanted to love you, but you were just a bit too weird for me. ME! I am the weirdest person there is! Okay, maybe not the weirdest but pretty close. Point is, if you are too weird for me, something is not right here. What? You want to know why I thought you were too weird? I would be happy to share my opinions with you. Take a seat, book.The first thing I feel I MUST mention is your writing. While I liked it enough and thought it was unique, a lot of your phrasing was weird. Basically, I was repeatedly yanked out of the narrative due to pretentious wording and odd verbiage. Also, the flow was just really odd in places. And you know, that's one of the things that bothers me the most because I have a super-short attention span and books like you that don't always flow well really don't help the situation. Here's the thing though. Your writing was really beautiful despite all that. I mean, honestly, if I thought it was that bad I would have put it down and read something else, but I stuck it out because I really thought you captured the essence of England well. I thought your imagery was fantastic, and the way you thrashed my mind's eye left me gasping for air. If only the rest had been there for me.The other thing that sort of bothered me was your characters, Perfect. I know you are lit-fic so it's natural for your characters to be eccentric and a bit odd, but no matter now well-developed they were, I just couldn't connect with them. I felt sorry for them, I enjoyed reading about their lives and troubles, but even Jim, the one I know I was supposed to have sympathy for, well, I just didn't have much. It's hard to explain why that was, but maybe it's because Jim was hiding so much throughout the book. He wouldn't tell me his story because it was supposed to be the big reveal at the end, which is another thing that annoys many, but I never felt like I really knew him. And then when it came to the big twist, well I pretty much saw it coming. I just hate those types of books where the characters are all hiding things and it is supposed to be this big secret that the reader has to solve. I feel like they are all mocking me. This is not the same as a whodunit. I like solving mysteries, but I did feel like every single one of these characters was surface and hard to get to know. It's a stylistic thing that I just don't mesh with.Your plot, Perfect, was also hard to get into. I just felt the first half of you was running around in circles and going nowhere. The accident happens, and then for a while after that, there is nothing. The plot does not seem to have a focus or an ultimate goal. I do believe you are supposed to be character-focused, or at least you try to be, but when I don't care for your characters, there isn't a whole lot for me between your front cover and back. Once you get going, you are good, but I kept hoping Diana would stand up for herself and she never did. That was very frustrating for me to read. I do not believe it is very realistic to have one person be that patient without ever showing their frustration.Ultimately, there is a lot of good in you, and I think that for the right person, you might be the perfect book. But there was not enough that I personally like for you to be a hit for me. There is no doubt in my mind that your author is incredibly talented, and I do believe I would read a work by her again. But Perfect, you were simply not the type of fiction that I fall for. At best, you were an average book for me. It takes a certain person to find entertainment value in stories of this kind, and I am not that person.

[tomkitten · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

It's been a long time since I've read a book that moved me as much as did this one. I don't even have any way of properly critiquing this, I was so absorbed in the story of these ordinary, well-intentioned people and the fragility of their lives. It's one of those rare books that I finish and say to myself, "This is why I read."

[sparemethecensor · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

This is a beautifully written tale, and the portrayal of 1970s upper-class England was rendered perfectly. I was especially interested in the hints tossed here and there about the role of women in society and the changing times - this backdrop gives great dimension to the story of Diana, Byron's mother, as she deals with the pivotal event that has also captivated Byron and his friend James.This book is difficult to get into because of the way it's written: the two stories, with alternating chapters, seem very distant from each other until the very, very end, and although we know James in one has grown into Jim in the other, there are so few hints about how the former leads to the latter that it was somewhat difficult to wade through. I thought Joyce's portrayal of mental illness was sympathetic and not inaccurate like most novels, but those chapters really dragged for me -- I wanted to get back to the "real" story and find out what was going to happen. Beautifully written, but could have used some help with the pacing.

[whitreidtan · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Last year's novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, was a lovely read, capturing my imagination and that of everyone to whom I recommended it. In Perfect, Rachel Joyce's second novel, she revisits some familiar themes, forgiveness, redemption, and connection, although the novel itself is very different than Harold Fry. This novel is a double stranded narrative that alternates between the summer of 1972 when Byron Hemmings is 11, his best friend James Lowe has a crush on Byron's lovely, delicate mother Diana, and Diana herself is carefully leading the perfect life and maintaining the appearances that her husband, who visits only on weekends, demands and the current day when a middle aged man named Jim, who suffers from mental illness and stuttering, has been released from a closing inpatient psychiatric care facility to try and make his way in the larger world. As the novel moves back and forth between the stories, the ways in which they are connected is not immediately obvious but they do eventually come together in a crescendo movement. 11 year old Byron is a thoughtful child just outside the cusp of any real understanding of the pressures of adult life. His best friend, James, who Byron admires greatly, is a detailed planner, coming up with plans of action that Byron is happy to follow. He tells Byron that scientists are going to add two seconds to the year to adjust for the earth's movement. And while James finds this an interesting but rather forgettable fact, Byron is obsessed by the wrongness of such an action, trying to stay vigilant to see the addition of the seconds. On a foggy summer morning when Diana and the children are running late to school, Byron knows he sees the hands of his watch move to add the seconds just as he witnesses something, a terrible something, that no one else sees, something that alters his world and his perception of that world forever. When he finally reveals what he saw to his mother and to his friend James, he sets in motion a series of actions that build the summer of 1972 to an unavoidable climax. Forty years on, Jim is just trying to live his daily life, indulging in the obsessive compulsive rituals he is driven to perform and holding down a job wiping tables in the supermarket café. He is isolated and unconnected from his co-workers and he has no friends or family. He is completely adrift and living on the edge in a broken down camper van. He is uncertain of how to interact with others, having been in and out of care since he was sixteen years old, having endured many rounds of electroshock therapy, and finding the world a scary and occasionally hostile place. But when he is accidentally hit by a car driven by a former co-worker, amazingly enough, he starts to connect to others and to learn that intervening on behalf of others is not always the wrong thing to do; sometimes it is the right thing, no matter the outcome. There is a noticeable rising tension and menace as the story progresses through Byron's summer and a pitiable sadness in Jim's story. Although it looks from the outside as if the Hemmings' life is perfect and enviable, it is in actual fact fragile and easily shattered and Byron scrambles all summer trying to repair the broken pieces, even as things come apart faster and faster through the course of his and James' determined plan to save Diana from the snowballing repercussions of her unnoticed action that misty morning. The adult Jim, on the other hand, is clearly broken, far from perfect, a casualty of a past he can't and won't discuss. Both stories move towards their resolutions and knit together, finally revealing what the reader has begun to suspect and playing with perception and what we see on the surface as versus what lies beneath in the very soul of people. The writing here is well done and powerful. Initially the great difference between the two story lines makes the novel read as two unconnected tales, making it a little hard to settle into the book but in the end it is clear why Joyce has chosen to write it this way, to maintain the mystery as long as possible. Byron's narration of the 1972 portion of the novel is spot on, allowing the reader to see the significance of the things he is missing while maintaining the desperate naïvete of a child trying to assume the role of an adult. Jim is mostly a sympathetic character but the necessary withholding of his past lessens this a bit. Throughout both portions of the novel there is a feeling of overwhelming sadness at perceived, pervasive failure and the inability to maintain perfection but in the end there is a flicker of hope that the striving is good enough and that connection, even imperfect connection, can repair the breaks.

[twink_2 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Rachel Joyce's debut novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was an international bestseller. It was one of my top reads for 2012. (my review) Her second novel is Perfect. 1972 England. Twelve year old Byron and his friend James are incredibly bright young men - their parents have earmarked them for great things and have set them on a path to their perfect destiny. But when James hears about two seconds being added to the global clock as a result of a leap year, he worries. And worries. " Two seconds are huge. It's the difference between something happening and something not happening." Byron, his mother and younger sister are driving in the car when something does happen - something that changes everything in Byron and James's lives forever. "It was all because of a small slip in time, the whole story. The repercussions were felt for years and years. Of the two boys, James and Byron, only one kept on course. Sometimes Byron gazed at the sky above the moor, pulsing so heavily with stars that the darkness seemed alive, and he would ache - ache for the removal of those two extra seconds. Ache for the sanctity of time as it should be." Joyce cuts her narrative between 1972 and present day, where we meet Jim, wiping down tables in a supermarket café. "He has spent his adult life in and out of care. Years have passed, and some of them he can't even remember. After treatment he could lose whole days; time was merely a selection of unconnected empty spaces. Sometimes he had to ask the nurse what he had eaten that day and if he had been for a walk. When he complained about memory loss, the doctors told him it was his depression. The truth is, he found it easier to forget." Oh, how do I even begin to describe how much I loved this book. I raced through the first few chapters, then forced myself to put it down - I didn't want it to end too quickly. But I was inexorably drawn to the story of James and Byron, past and present. How was Joyce going to connect the two? What happened - what was going to happen? And I put the book down because I was afraid. Afraid of what would happen to Jim. His attempts to cope and his thoughts had me in tears. Jim captured me much as Harold did in Joyce's first book. And then there's a small glimpse of what could be....if only.... The title figures into so much of the book. The boys are expected to be perfect, as are their parents, their lives, their surroundings et al. And when it breaks down, the drive to perfection still lurks, insidiously stealing from the lives of everyone. I thought I had everything figured out going into the last pages of the book, but was pleasantly caught off guard by the ending that Joyce chose. Not what I saw coming at all. Joyce's exploration of the human spirit is by turns heart breaking and life affirming. Perfect is an eye opening testament to both the frailty and the resilience of the human spirit and the power of redemption. Perfect is a five star read for me and one of my top books of 2013. Absolutely recommended.

[rglossne · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Byron and James, two eleven year old boys, discover that life can change in a matter of seconds in this astonishing new novel by Rachel Joyce. It's the summer of 1972, and the boys learn that 2 seconds must be added to the clock to account for the rotational pull of the earth. This one fact changes everything for both boys.Joyce tells her story in the present and the past, where we see Jim, who has struggled with mental health issues for all his adult life, learning to cope with life outside an institution. The events of that long ago summer unfold in the alternating chapters.The characters are compelling: Diana, the 'perfect' mother; James, the high strung clever boy; Jim, homeless and struggling for connection; Beverley, who I couldn't decide whether to hate or to sympathize with; Seymour, who is so alienated from his own family; and Byron, whose world is turned upside down.The idea that certain events can resonate throughout your life, changing everything, is a powerful one that has been explored in a number of recent novels, such as Life after Life. Other themes, such as depression and mental illness, the pressure to be perfect, the strictures of social class, and the necessity and healing power of human connection, are all developed.I loved this book, and I will be pressing it on my friends.

[melaniehope · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

This is definitely a book to read. I have not read the author's other book, but had heard good things about her writing. I was not disappointed.The book is mainly about Bryon, an eleven year old boy. His best friend is James. James tells Bryon that two seconds are going to be added to the clock to correct the rotational pull of the Earth. Byron, a smart, curious boy who likes routine is deeply troubled by this news. On the day that Bryon believes the two seconds are added, his mom takes a different route to school by car. An accident occurs that sets a long chain of events that have irrevocable consequences. This chain of events shapes Byron's entire existence.Bryon's mom, Diana, is also an important character in this story. At times it was a bit frustrating because she is very naive and vulnerable. She develops a friendship that is not very sincere. It is easy for the readers to realize she is being used, but Diana is completely oblivious and that was difficult for me as the reader to keep having that happen.The book also takes place in 2 different times. One in 1972, and the other, almost 40 years later. I thought the writing was both haunting and powerful. This is a very talented author with a wonderful story.

[nevadaannie · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

I was very excited to receive this book from Library Thing as an early readers copy because I loved The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Rachel Joyce's first book. I didn't exactly dislike Perfect, but I had a problem working my way through it. While "Harold Fry" moved along at a brisk pace, "Perfect" did not and I kept getting lost among the characters. The book just didn't grab me or hold my interest most of the time. Having said that, there were occasionally sentences and paragraphs that just jumped out, they were so descriptive and beautiful. Joyce seems to be so good at writing complex characters, but this time they didn't resonate with me.

[michigantrumpet_1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

In 1972, two seconds were added to balance the earth's rotation with clock time. Since learning of this from his much-smarter friend James, 11 year old Byron has been worrying over this addition. When his mother is involved in a car accident with the children in tow, Byron is convinced those two seconds are implcated. The consequences of this accident are far reaching for the boy, his mother, his family and his friend. This story alternates with the story of present day Jim, who has been in and out of mental institutions, and suffers from what appears to be obsessive compulsive disorder, and possibly paranoid schizophrenia as well. Since the closure of the mental instituion, he has been 'main streamed' into a camper, menial job wiping tables and a life of constant rituals designed to keep himself and the world safe. We are kept wondering until very late in the tale if there is any connection between the two stories. While not generally the case for me, I found the bouncing between characters and time periods to be disruptive and a detriment to the overall pacing of the book. There is a a herviness and sadness to the story which some readers might find difficult to appreciate. I especially admired Joyce's fully realized characters. Mental illness is a difficult subject about which to write (and read.) Joyce does so with compassion and imagination. Anything that advances us along a path of understanding and acceptance of mental illness is a good thing.