★Me, Myself and Ike
by K.L. Denman
A first-person narrative of a mentally ill adolescent has to be one of the most difficult feats to execute successfully. Mark Haddon pulled it off in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and though she does so with a lot less humour, B.C. author K.L. Denman follows in his footsteps with her latest novel.
Me, Myself and Ike is the gut-wrenching story of Kit Latimer and his descent into the paranoia, delusions, and self-harm that accompanies the onset of schizophrenia. Convinced by “Ike,” the voice inside his head, that he can preserve his dead body in the frozen mountains of Vancouver Island, Kit plans an intricately detailed suicide mission. He believes that his frozen corpse, in addition to his manifesto and various “artifacts” (a Blackberry, junk food, illegal drugs, condoms, etc.) will educate future civilizations about their past.
Bizarre? Yes. But we follow Kit’s every rationalization and quite simply believe that he believes. This inside view of the disease feels incredibly authentic. Denman seamlessly transitions from Kit’s own thoughts to his interactions with “Ike,” his memories of a healthier time, and excerpts from his increasingly incoherent writings. The fact that Denman exhibits such flexibility within the confines of a first-person narrative, while also maintaining the reader’s feelings of empathy for Kit, is an undeniable accomplishment.
While the writing is seamless, the subject matter is challenging. Given that Kit is seriously ill from page one, readers are spared any introductory fluff or a description of the protagonist’s painfully slow deterioration. In one particularly cringe-worthy scene, Kit attacks a fresh tattoo with a loofah and scalding hot water to prevent “nano-robots” from entering his brain. However, Denman’s controlled style saves the story from tumbling into the melodramatic or the senselessly explicit. The most upsetting parts of the story do not lie in these graphic moments, but in watching an engaging protagonist slip away into mental illness.
Completely riveting, suspenseful, and heartbreaking, Me, Myself and Ike is one of the best young adult releases of the year.
Courtesy: Quill & Quire
https://quillandquire.com/review/me-myself-and-ike/
