The novel never descends into the trap of sentimentality, nor is it a completely depressing and mawkish study of life in the shadow of schizophrenia. Nathan Filer still does the odd Sunday shift as a registered mental health nurse, although they may well become less frequent after his debut novel – originally the subject of an 11-publisher bidding war – was on Monday night named winner of one of the UK's leading book prizes. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t contradict the blurb when it said “this is a brave and groundbreaking novel from one of the most exciting new voices in fiction.

British Journal of Psychiatry noted that readers who are psychiatrists hoping to find themselves portrayed within the work would be disappointed, as they are "mentioned less than a handful of times throughout". It’s a devastating but eye-opening reading experience as Matthew relates in this unadulterated voice how a person like him copes with his kind of illness. Now if I were to tell you that when I rolled the dice, one of the pieces would be taken away, what would that mean? The Shock of the Fall ili Where the Moon isn't (ovaj drugi naslov je svakako bolji) je priča o Metjuu, koji je sve samo ne još jedan od običnih književnih junaka.Matthew's narrative is utterly compelling, gravitating between anger, despair and moments of humour, that challenges the reader and our perceptions of him as a character. It criticizes that the techniques of suspense used works against the story itself, it "reinforces the distinction between the narrator's point of view and the readers". Matt's mental illness was not taken lightly in this book, and this is what made it feel so realistic in my opinion.

He was committed there by his parents, Richard and Susan, after his grandmother found him attempting to make a giant ant farm in his flat, which a hallucination of Simon told him to do. This episode happened when he and his brother Simon went camping with their parents at Ocean Grove Holiday Park in Dorset. Matt’s hand-written and typewritten memoirs, notes, journal entries, inner-thoughts, personal letters, and other forms of expression are presented in various typefaces and font-sizes, and often come with sketches and detailed illustrations.Edward Clement, saying: “it tells me exactly what I have to do with my days, like coming in for therapy groups…what tablets I should take, and the injections, and who is responsible for what. piše na kompjuteru ili pisaćoj mašini (što je pisac ostvario promenom fonta), čitaoci putuju napred-natrag kroz Metjuov život i postaju saputnici u njegovoj priči i njegovom životu a isto tako i njegovi sapatnici, jer ne mogu a da ne osete tu bol i krivicu koja mu pritiska ramena i srce.

Jacob is Matthew's best and only friend, it is clear that he is on drugs and he gets Matthew into smoking and drugs. Editor's Note Feb 10, 2014: St Martin's Press have just announced that Where The Moon Isn't will be republished under the UK title, The Shock and The Fall this week in digital format and later this fall in paperback. The schizophrenic brother whose impressionistic memoir/confession we are reading has in some way caused the death of his Down Syndrome brother (yes, this is a blighted family).His poetry has been broadcast on television and radio, including BBC Radio 4's Bespoken Word and Wondermentalist Cabaret.

Nathan Filer's Debut Novel The Shock of The Fall is haunting and very real insight to death and mental illness. But only on occasion, most of the time he seems to be a rather boring young man with nothing much to say, except about himself (a point he himself makes). His stand-up poetry has been a regular fixture at festivals and spoken-word events across the UK and has been broadcast on BBC 3 television and radio 4, 7, and 5 Live.There is also a detailed document that explores the narrative style of the protagonist under the following headings: Structure, Purpose of the Narrative, Unreliable Narrator and Chapter Titles. What I mean is, was the point of the novel about a person coming to terms with a traumatic childhood experience or about someone dealing with mental illness, and if so, why have these two unconnected elements side by side - what’s the reader supposed to focus on?