Book review on enduring love

The basic story line to the book is all about a man who experiences a ballooning accident where he and a group of other guys try to pull down a balloon that has a boy in, which is the captain of the air balloons grandson†¦ so they are all holding it down trying to get the kid out but a strong gust of wind blows the balloon up and the four guys still holding on are pulled up with it but before it gets too high three of the four Jump off to safety which intern leaves one guy called Logan hanging on to the rope after a couple of minutes Logan looses his grip and slips to the very end of the ope†¦ or a split second he continues to hold on but finally again his grip goes and he drops to his death in front of this crowd of people. After the incident the main character for the rest of the book is Just left with this over riding feeling of guilt, but also deeper there was a man at the accident who comes away with almost post traumatic stress and as an onlooker as the reader you exp erience him become uncontrollably obsessed with the main character in the book and by the end of the book Jed whom is obsessed causes Joe and cassia his girlfriend to split up simply by getting in to Joes head through the couple of letters he sends him.The book takes in the story several months to get the middle of the plot but the book passes within a year. To me what happened in terms of the accident is unusual as you don't here hot air balloon accidents everyday and the after events I'm sure happen but don't come to light as this one did for example the fact Jed stalked Joe so relentlessly for that period of time so openly is never talked about let alone written in a book! The storyline right from the begging grips you as it opens with the main character acting as a narrator talking through the day when he had a role to play in the loss of life and freak accident caused it!!Characters: Real main characters in the book for me are: Joe Rose Joe Rose is a middle-aged successful scie nce Journalist living with his long-time girlfriend Clarissa Rose in London. He considers himself unattractive and marvels that Clarissa loves him. He is the object of Jed Parry's obsessions. Clarissa Mellon Clarissa is Joe's girlfriend and an English professor who specializes in the Romantic poet John Keats. She loves children and is secretly devastated that she is barren.She loves Joe's completely but she is ruled by her emotions and interpretive intuition. Jed Parry Jed Parry is a lonely young man who lives by himself in a large house he inherited from his mother. He is devoutly Christian, although he doesnt follow any specific sect. He suffers from I feel syndrome that causes him to believe that a stranger is in love with you. (Interestingly enough there is a syndrome called Clearmalt's syndrome which has the exactly the same symptoms) The object of his obsession is Joe Rose, whom he stalks.Jean Logan Jean Logan is John Logan's wife and a history professor at Oxford. She struggl es with John's death, convincing herselt that ne was having an affair. Clarissa was interesting to say the least, as the book opens you find her to be very warming to Joe rose but very quickly as the reader you see that she instantly after the accident turns away from Joe you could say that Joe caused some of the relationship fail but mostly it all comes from Clarissa.You see this instantly as they drive home yes you can say she still is in shock but when they get home the interaction between both of them is so odd†¦ the chatting at the table yes ill say that is normal but what happened after that the sexual contact is benign, I think the author is trying to get cross the fact the two characters are still Jumpy and sketchy after both witnessing such a horrendous accident and uses the odd physical contact as a way to show that.It's very easy to comment on the relationship between Joe and Clarissa but it's harder to talk about the conflicts. Again there is a blindingly obvious on e of the conflict between Joe and Clarissa that develops but one I find more interesting is the not conflict but awkwardness between Joe rose and Jean Logan for those who don't know is John Logan's wife, the conflict if we call it that is when Joe goes round to Jeans ouse which may I say is a long drive to talk to her about Jed (the pedo) Joe almost invite himself in and sits waiting as Jeans makes some tea.Long story short the fact that a man that Jean doesn't know is sat in her living room as she makes tea for him waiting to talk to her about a guy who has an obsession with him, to me from the offset is Just going to cause so form of mental conflict. Personally all characters change over the course of the book but easily you can spot the person who changes the most is Joe rose and the start he is very confident and towards the end he turns into somebody with very low self-esteem.The biggest and easiest change in the book surprisingly enough isn't Jed I feel its Joe as the effect o f the incident is immediate even on the way home the shock of the accident starts to make its mark on Joe and his girlfriend there are long awkward chats in the kitchen and from there it Just goes down hill†¦ will say though Jed stalking Joe religiously doesn't help things but after what Joe saw, heard and felt that breezy summers day it marked him as a dead man you couldn't see that when you start reading the book but as you dig deeper and start to think in depth more about what happened you easily make connections that urn into ideas and before you know it you find yourself predicting the rest of the book†¦ The story was written in first person. It helped the story as it put the person into the shoes of the book and really helps the reader to get into the book and really understand the dilemma that the characters are in throughout the book.Another factor that helped the reader get a grip n the reader and hold them there until the book unfolds and ends is how the author r eally puts the reader in the story is how he describes the surroundings that the characters are in and how the time period really elps you not only believe the story line but shocks you that in this modern age not only do accidents happen like this but the after affects aren't picked up by those around the characters for example Jed who is to his own accord until the point that others realise that he is a danger to those around him and society in general.To be completely honest and to wrap up the review id say I would recommend the book to people but will warn them ot the graphic paedophilia that takes place in the book also the sexual content isn't off putting but in places is hard to get to grips off until you read further on and realise why..