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I’ve already told you how much I enjoyed the movie ‘Silver Linings Playbook‘ and was excited to read the novel by Matthew Quick. If you haven’t experienced either, just know there are spoilers ahead…Image may be NSFW.
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First things first - the movie and the book are really nothing alike. After doing a bit of research, I found out that Quick didn’t have any input on the film. In interviews, Quick says he is happy he was able to tell the story his way – film director David O. Russell used his characters and storyline as inspiration to tell his version. I think my love of the film clouded my judgement when reading the book – things that I loved about the movie weren’t in the book at all (e.g. the character of Danny). However, after taking a step back I really appreciate the novel and Quick’s ability to storytell through the eyes of a mentally unstable, depressed man who will do anything to find his silver lining in life.
Pat Peoples is a driven person. He exercises hard, he reads classic literature, he constantly reminds himself that doing the kind thing (not the right thing) will lead him to his happy ending – reunited with his wife, Nikki. The dialogue (both between characters and internal) let you know early on that Pat is aware of his state of mind and unashamed of it. He feels that the acts that led him to this point in his life were for the better – he needed to be better for Nikki anyway. The problem is that Pat has no memory of what happened.
Since the novel unfolds through Pat’s perspective, you don’t learn until nearly the end that Nikki cheated on him and he caught her in the act. After he brutally beat his wife’s lover, Pat is whisked off to a mental health institution where he stays for more than four years. During this time he is highly medicated and he has little or no interaction with his old friends or family. He doesn’t know how long he has been in the facility by the time his mother picks him up to take him home. He doesn’t remember why Nikki left him. The devastation of finding his spouse with another man leads to violent outbursts, depression, and a defense of pushing all those bad memories out of his head.
As the novel went on and Pat started to rediscover the truth and uncover the bits and pieces he had missed while at the institution, I couldn’t help but feel heartbroken for him. His own brother had gotten married and he didn’t even know who his new sister-in-law was. His mother and father barely spoke and their marriage was hanging on by a thread. His ex-wife had remarried and started a family with the same man she was cheating with. And on top of this, he was being pursued by a woman named Tiffany, who had some issues of her own.
I was surprised at how little the novel focused on Tiffany after seeing the film. In the book, Tiffany is older, more pushy, and definitely more manipulative. She sinks her hooks into Pat’s mother to get more information about Pat and his situation with Nikki. She writes multiple letters to Pat in Nikki’s voice that lead him to believe they might be reunited – until finally Pat realizes that Nikki is never coming back. I’d go so far as to say that I didn’t like Tiffany at all in the book, but I could see why Pat needed her and was drawn to her.
The one word I would use to describe this book would be: hopeful. Quick makes you feel hopeful that Pat will reach his goals and will find his silver lining. And he does, just not in the way he imagined. I truly enjoyed this uplifting, comical, and inspiring story about how one man finds his place in life and falls in love along the way.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
