Maud Casey’s novel The Man Who Walked Away was well written, almost poetic. The protagonist Albert walking from place to place, different cities and countries was an interesting concept. It was unfamiliar to me how someone could walk all over without a recollection of where they have been and without a clue as to where they will go. It was puzzling but the overall story is very deep. It expresses the importance of time and place; the past, the present, and the future. Within my research about the novel I was surprised to find that it is loosely based on a true story and a patient of this sort existed. Casey does a wonderful job of storytelling and description, she offers such vivid descriptions of the asylum and it’s patients. It’s a curious thought though, to wander, the fact that in the end the man walks away and continues to wander it makes me thing of a quote I am really fond of “Not all who wanders are lost.” Maybe wandering is a way for Albert to find himself.
The Man Who Walked Away
- An End In Itself/An Ant on the Shelf/An Aunt Who Needs Help
- A look at Casey’s narration style in ‘The Man Who Walked Away’
My first thought when I started reading this novel is that Albert was experiencing a fugue state or disassociating, but it doesn’t seem like he’s forgetting who he is or how he came to be somewhere – simply that he feels an uncontrollable urge to walk. I’m interested to see where Casey takes this story because so far we have yet to see a solid connection between the characters who have been introduced. I usually like to Google things and look up the Cliffnotes (for everything – books, movies, etc. – I know, I’m terrible) but I think I’m going to keep myself in the dark and see how the story unfolds as we read it in class.
Sahla,
This text is in fact very poetic! I was a bit confused as to why the professor was asking us to look up the word “lyrical” and now I understand (although I’ll leave that conversation for class). Casey really turns her reading in to a sort of extended poem with the use of repetition that Michael pointed out “he is, he is, he is” (19), “yet another escapade, yet another escapade, yet another escapade” (20) and with her use of onomatopoeia “click-clickety-click” (twice on page 10 and on page 12) “shhh” (pg 15) “buzzz” (23). There are honestly too many instances to point out and thats only in the first two chapters! You are right, she does a great job at “storytelling”, she has a way of keeping readers on their toes!
I feel like the way she present in the novel when someone just wanders around places and they have no destination to go. This connects to our brain sometimes people wonders about things and think about them over and over and sometimes those things come through dreams. At this point of the novel that we have read so far she wants us to wander and want us to predict that what will happen in the next chapters. In a way she is giving us a chance to think ahead. I do agree a lot of repetition is being used in the text because maybe that’s the way she wants us to notice that something important is happening throughout or she wants to connect it with the music. A lot of the time in songs the singer does repeat the lines. Maybe she wants us to enjoy this novel and think of it as a song which has beats and repetition instead of just reading the novel and feel bored about it.
We already talked about it in class, but yeah he’s experiencing disassociation. What I found myself questioning was, why does Casey represent disassociation this way (a man who wanders)? Seems like a stupid question because, as a writer she can choose to write about whatever she wants to. From the quote you chose to end your post about makes me question if Casey is romanticizing this mental illness (is it even a mental illness)? It doesn’t necessarily seem like a severe mental illness, but the way she writes about it seems to be poetic and positive. Not saying mental illness is something that should be written about negatively, but I feel like there is always controversy when writing about any kind of mental illness. Especially when the author has no first hand experience with it.
@Mike Coccia: I think it’s smart to question texts that appear to “romanticize” anything. But I think there’s some balance achieved in “The Man Who Walked Away.” In Chapter 2, the story does seem to start by characterizing Albert’s condition in a fanciful, whimsical way (I’m here, I’m not lost!), but it’s countered by the incredible ambivalence he feels and the unwanted situations his disorder gets him into (What do I want/thirst for? Am I just someone who is disappearing?).