At first glance, Iain Reid's "I'm Thinking Of Ending Things" seems predictable and shallow. The novel features a narrator who I found dislikable and one dimensional. When I began reading, the narrator’s problems and thoughts lacked substance and the character lacked complexity.
Although it is a quick read, the plot initially seemed relatively dull. Excerpts featuring another point of view are included and provide additional interest and suspense, but do not reveal enough, in the beginning, to greatly add to the initial plot.
I thought I had an accurate prediction of how the story would end and believed I could see the resolution coming from a mile away. However, as good novels are prone to do, my initial opinion and prediction were proven to be incredibly wrong.
Reid is a talented wordsmith, particularly in the arena of rising action. Despite this talent, I found myself bored for the first half of the novel. The journey the narrator was on seemed to be going nowhere and I found the thoughts to be unrelatable and monotonous. It was easy, at this point, to put the book down.
Then, the second half of the book begins and the pace quickens. Without even noticing, I was drawn into the story. Reid demonstrates his competence in the art of building suspense as he plunges his main character into dramatic and dangerous situations.
It is the unexpected ending of this novel that saves it from its slow and lackluster beginning. Reid utilizes the last few pages to launch the reader into bewilderment. I was forced to rethink every assumption I had made about the setting and characters. The disjointed events suddenly begin to connect. Complete clarity is not granted, but this keeps the reader thinking long after they read the final page.
Iain Reid displays the great importance of everyday choices and their potential impact with "I'm Thinking Of Ending Things." Through his main character, he displays how a person’s life can spiral into a completely new direction depending on the minuscule decisions they make each day such as where to sit in a bar and with whom to strike up a conversation. Reid also exposes how easily mental illness can be disguised and how dangerous this facade can be.
This is a book for the patient reader. Getting through the beginning is an unentertaining process, but it is a small price to play for the wonderfully unsettling ending. It is not a light book, but rather a novel that will consume your thoughts if, and only if, you reach the end. As an avid reader, I would recommend this book to anyone like me who enjoys reading and often does so for pleasure. However, if English class is where you acquire all your reading material and you find those books to be daunting and arduous tasks, definitely not.
