When I was first started reading this, it reminded me very much of the generational dramas or "epics" like Empire Falls which I didn't read but watched, I was less than impressed by the HBO adaptation. Still there was something about the families, their twisted connected histories and the setting back east that resonated with me, and that of course makes no sense since I was born in Europe and currently work in California. I suppose it's something of a fascination I have with the other coast

But it dawned on me, "I Know This Much Is True" is a lot better than "Empire Falls", the weaved flashbacks of the Birdsey twins (which explains the cover) read more like Franzen's "Corrections"

Something that crept up in my reading was thinking about what the title of this novel meant exactly, it is in one of the quotes I listed below and also a closing thought of the novel

I won't lie, there's definitely a high point of the book as we first dwelve into Dominick's past but things fall off a bit coinciding with the disintegration of his present life.. I was hoping the author would save the best for last but it turns fast into into a big sob story (Dominick, what a harsh life.. gag). I'm definitely not feelin the therapy aspect and even less the story of that grandpa which gives only a tiny bit of insight

I'm a bit ticked off that the humongous novel is resolved in its last chapter in about 7 pages.. the whole thing stacks up to almost 900 pages. So the conclusion is rushed, a storybook happy ending.. bleh


Quotes
"it was like one of those crazy guest appearances people make in your dream"
"Maybe that was the big cosmic joke: you could spend your whole life banging your head against the wall and all that it boiled down to was fortune cookie pholophy. Go with the flow. Which, come to think of it, was what people did when they drowned"
"[...] I swear on the feet of Jesus himself that it happened the way I saw! I know this much is true" (pg 669)