Six weeks to write for your life... In this blistering story of a ghostwriter haunted by his demonic subject, the Man Booker Prize winner turns to lies, crime and literature with devastating effect. A young and penniless writer, Kif Kehlmann, is rung in the middle of the night by the notorious con man and corporate criminal, Siegfried Heidl. About to go to trial for defrauding the banks of $700 million, Heidl proposes a deal: $10,000 for Kehlmann to ghost write his memoir in six weeks.
But as the writing gets under way, Kehlmann begins to fear that he is being corrupted by Heidl. As the deadline draws closer, he becomes ever more unsure if he is ghost writing a memoir, or if Heidl is rewriting him-his life, his future. Everything that was certain grows uncertain as he begins to wonder: who is Seigfried Heidl-and who is Kif Kehlmann?
By turns compelling, comic, and chilling, First Person is a haunting journey into the heart of our age.
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[Our first battle was birth]***
(Chatto Windus, 2 November 2017, ebook, copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed)
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This is my first time reading the author. I have his The Narrow Road to The Deep North on my TBR list but haven't gotten round to picking it up yet.
I loved the premise of the book and thought it sounded like a great read and highly original.
There are some good things about First Person but overall more parts just didn't work.
I didn't love the writing style used. The pace is very slow and almost grinds to a halt at times which I found boring and off-putting. This isn't all the time and I did enjoy reading some parts. It's just, the writing is very flowery at times, which doesn't go down well with me and a lot of time is spent reflecting on things rather than using action. Oddly, there are some places where the writing is excellent.
I did like the way the author portrays Kif. He's a great character. He starts to become uneasy with the choices he's made, becomes increasingly depressed and his internal struggle really brings parts of the book to life. I loved how he unravels and starts to question his decisions. Ziggy is a whole other level of satanic.
First Person is worth a read even though I didn't completely love the book.
