I had read two previous books by Will Ferguson and count them amongst my favourite books, giving them both my rare 5 star ratings. These two books: 419 was a work of fiction involving Nigerian internet scams and environmental degradation caused by western companies in Nigeria. It worked as a thriller, with good sense of place and interesting characters. Road Trip Rwanda is a non-fiction travelogue describing travel in Rwanda twenty years after the genocide. Both books were completely different, and I found them great reads.
I looked forward to this book, again it was very different from the books I had already read, and for me not as enjoyable. The author has several awards for works of humour, and some reviews mentioned enjoying the humour in this book. I found very little that made me laugh or smile.
The main character, Thomas, is doing graduate work in the study of the brain. Some of his experiments are unethical and carried out with a friend in the lab secretly at night. He is misogynistic, and treats women badly. After being dropped by his current girlfriend, Amy, he attempts to win her back by curing her brother’s delusion of believing he is Jesus. Some of my problem with the story was my dislike for the character, Thomas.
Thomas is estranged from his father, a psychiatrist, who gained fame and wealth by keeping Thomas mostly isolated and under constant observation throughout his childhood. Thomas became known as the ‘Boy in the Box’ after the book written by his father based on this experiment.
The book details the study of the brain, locating various emotions and thought processes in certain locations. Some of Thomas’s experiments involve trying to locate religion and love within the brain’s anatomy. When he decides to cure Amy’s brother he also finds two other men who claim to be Jesus. He moves all three into his apartment in the belief that their conversations will shock them out of their delusions once they realize that not all three can be the same person and reality will set in.
There is some discussion about methods used to cure mental illness. How mental and emotional disturbances are labeled and giving pharmaceuticals designed to help versus behaviour modification, as well as psychoanalysis. The 1950’s shock therapy and past immersing a patient in water until he almost drowns are also mentioned unfavourably. After some time under Thomas’s supervision the three patients are calmer, but still believe they are Jesus.
One day Thomas’s father shows up at the door, and uses his medical authority to move the patients into the home where Thomas grew up under constant observation. His father believes in behaviour modification while ignoring any cause of mental illness in their background. The three men are confined in separate locked rooms and monitored. Things go terribly wrong for Thomas and the men.
As a sideline, we have a murder mystery. Someone is killing homeless people. I thought this could be omitted, as well as Amy and his previous female conquests. I felt the conclusion left a few things unresolved.
You don't need to own a Kindle device to enjoy Kindle books. Download one of our FREE Kindle apps to start reading Kindle books on all your devices.
-
Apple
-
Android
-
Windows Phone
-
Android
To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number.
![The Shoe on the Roof by [Will Ferguson]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51uJ5cpAVEL._SY346_.jpg)
Get 90 days FREE of Amazon Music Unlimited
with the purchase of any eligible product. Shop now
Customers who bought this item also bought
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Customer reviews
Review this product
Top reviews from other countries
Carolyn
... books by Will Ferguson and count them amongst my favourite books, giving them both my rare 5 star ...
Reviewed in Canada on 27 October 2017Verified Purchase
Book Lover
I love Will Ferguson's writing
Reviewed in Canada on 20 November 2017Verified Purchase
Amazon Customer
Loved it! Have already recommended it to two other ...
Reviewed in Canada on 13 June 2018Verified Purchase
Amazon Customer
Such a good book
Reviewed in Canada on 8 April 2019Verified Purchase
Monica Kee
Psychiatry on trial
Reviewed in Canada on 6 August 2018Verified Purchase