martin7360

4 years ago

James Scudamore’s novel The Amnesia Clinic which has two main protagonists, Anthony, also known as Anti, and Fabián, whose friendship is based on fictitious storytelling, is based on them trying to find an “Amnesia Clinic”. The whole story spans over about a week, so it was expected from the author to introduce a lot of detail, which has been done in a thorough manner, however beware for the use of various, not that often used, words, or even swear words, which appear more towards the end as tension grows. I often found myself imagining the picture of what was happening thanks to the very vivid and thorough descriptions and images, which could span over a whole page. The concept of the novel is very... interesting to say the least. Even though the main goal is to find and reach the “Amnesia Clinic”, it is not the main focus. The main focus is on the surroundings and other sub-stories, which happen throughout their journey. I find this book interesting for its focus on how lies may become an important, or rather crucial, part of a person’s life after certain, perhaps tragic, events, like the death of one’s parents. Even though the story in itself wasn’t that interesting to me for the most part, I find it excellent for analysis purposes and for thinking about.

anyam

4 years ago

The Amnesia Clinic by James Scudamore follows two friends with different backgrounds, Anti and Fabian, on a journey through Ecuador searching for adventure and answers. I would give this book 4 stars out of 5. The book goes into a lot of detail about the culture and landscape in Ecuador and it gives the reader more in depth knowledge about that country. To young adult readers the characters were very relatable and you could easily connect to both Anti and Fabian's upbringing. The reason I wouldn’t give this novel 5 out of 5 stars is because throughout the book there were multiple times where nothing really happened and it became a slow read. After reading the book entirely, I did enjoy the outcome and some of the meaning behind it.

jb003

4 years ago

The story told in the book The Amnesia Clinic by Jamems Scudamore was told from an unreliable Author, Anti. While reading it I got lost sometimes because in the end you didn’t really know what was a lie and what was true. I kind of understood that Fabian wanted to make sense of his mothers death, but is that the right way? Making up a whole lie about his parents death? I don’t think that's how it should work. Also a friendship shouldn’t be based on lies only, as you see in the end of the book. In the beginning I really struggled to keep on reading, if you got into it once it was still hard but it somehow hooks you up. Because it was described that well you can see the things really clearly. Also the characters got described very well, same with the secondary characters. You can tell their personality and how they behave in certain situations.

enomisozzoupac

4 years ago

I particularly enjoyed the book in many of its aspects, from the most evident to the more subtle ones. The book is set in Quito, Ecuador, where Anti and Fabian live. They are two teenagers attending an international school, and the story is told by Anti, who pays tribute to Fabian’s memory (we are informed from the first page that he has passed away). The plot is centred on a journey to find the Amnesia Clinic, a place where people who lost their memory are welcomed and taken care of. Fabian, in fact, thinks that this is the place where his mother lives: his parents died in a car accident, but her body has never been found, thus giving Fabian a spark of hope. The exotic background of Ecuador is depicted in a magnificent way and the characters are well characterized. The topic might sound cliche at first, but the novel treats adult topics like grief and delusion wonderfully, creating a sort of modern bildungsroman.