User:Biggertigger/sandbox

My Secret History is a novel that follows the life of a young man as he 'grows' through his life and the person he becomes through his experiences, experiences that have been said by some to be extremely autobiographical, but the author himself states in the book that only some of the events in the book are relevent to his own life...but infuriatingly he doesn't tell us which bits these are. This book is my favourite novel and it was given to me by an old friend who thought i would find aspects of Theroux's writing interesting. In fact, this book became a catalyst for a kind of Paul Theroux addiction...with me buying all his works and enjoying every one of them. I adore his writing. And not just his travelogues...for which i guess he's most known-for, although i do love his particularly unique style of writing about the various countries he has visited and lived-in. His novels are fabulous too, and My Secret History is his best, in my humble opinion. One of the many things that seperate Theroux freom other writers from similar genres is his searing honesty, and another aspect of his greatness is his fantastic eye for detail. In the book, its very difficult to not think that he is talking about events that have happened to him...and the 'honesty' i mentioned earlier could be exemplified by a scene..i think its in My Secret History (although it may be from Jungle Lovers), where he is taken back to a filthy home by a street prostitute with whom he shares a bed (but does not 'indulge' we are told)...because he is put-off performing any kind of sex-act with the woman due to the fact that her young daughter (who we are told is only about 12-13 yrs of age) is sleeping in the same room. In the morning though...the mopther leaves very early to travel somewhere leaving Theroux in bed to carry-on sleeping. He wakes up to find the young daughter in bed with him....and he admits to having sex with her......THIS is the honesty i'm talking about....because even if Theroux himself didnt really have sex with a minor ..his writing about it..in the style he did, is a very brave thing to do in this world where paedophilia is perhaps THE chief taboo of the age. He doesnt try to condone the actions of the man who's life we are following in any way...but for him to even tell us about it i think says alot about him as a writer. His honesty runs like a seam of gold throughout his books...and especially in My Secret History. He tells us when bad things happen...but he never judges. He shows us the joyous aspects of life in a wonderfully vivid style that brings the reader right into the scene, but he also never shies away from describing the depths of depravity humanity is capable of...depravity he describes in such a fabulously evocative manner.