I Know This Much is True, A Story of Growth and Transformation

By Leo Maurer

These past few weeks, I’ve taken a break from the literature of Lemony Snicket and moved into a novel by Wally Lamb. This novel is entitled I Know This Much is True, and at 897 pages, it was a commitment of time and energy to make my way through this book. The main character is Dominick Birdsey, the identical twin of Thomas Birdsey. The book follows Dominick as he comes to terms with his brothers decision to cut off his own hand to stop the Gulf War. Through attempting to free his brother from a hospital for the dangerously mentally ill, Dominick is forced to come to terms with the trauma he suffered at the hands of his stepfather and mother. After gaining access to his grandfather’s long lost autobiography, Dominick is able to read the story of how his family came to be, and eventually how much like his grandfather he really is.

Because the story is in the first person view of Dominick, I got a sense of how he thought and how he would react. I found myself guessing what he would say and do by the end of the book, but as he grew as a person he began to surprise himself and me. Lamb does an excellent job of conveying the personal growth of Dominick and his view on the world. At the beginning of the novel, he pushes away his ex-wife after the death of their baby daughter, uses his live-in girlfriend for sex, and barely speaks to his stepfather. He acts as though he is invincible and anyone who is not him is beneath him. He blames the other characters in the book for his misfortune, and uses their actions as an excuse to be the victim in everyone’s stories. By the end of the novel, he is both forced and decides to come to terms with his arrogant attitude towards others. His grandfather’s autobiography plays a big role in this change, as his grandfather writes about himself as if the whole world revolves around him. After Dominick sees personality traits he shares with his grandfather, he becomes determined to change his fate and become a better person. 

Lamb does an exceptional job at evoking emotions in the reader, but occasionally I felt like the story was moving a bit too slowly for my liking. He goes into excruciating detail about the different phases of first Thomas and Dominick’s life, then into the isolated incidents of Dominick’s life. These backstories do add value and context for events in the present, but I think it could have definitely worked without some of them. There is also an excessive amount of subplots in the story, that made it hard to keep track of what the main point of the story was. Eventually, at the end they all collided and made it clear these were all stories that were essential to Dominick growing as a person, though while reading the book, they made me more confused than they added to the story. 

This book is a commitment, but quite worth it to read. It made me question how I view the world, and the struggles that go on behind the scenes in the lives of strangers and my own friends. I began to find myself re-examining how much I saw myself as a victim in my own story. I believe this novel deserve 4.5/5 bologna slices, due to its length and complexity, but its innate ability to make the reader think about their life. I recommend this book to anyone who is willing to be committed to a character and their story, and is ready to take a second look at how they live their life.