The Dead Fathers Club

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It’s a playful manhandling of Hamlet, and it works: The more you read, the more captivating it becomes. Philip is funny, vulnerable and resolute as he tries to shake off his grief and save his beloved dad from the Terrors and his mom from Uncle Alan. We suspect the Bard would be pleased. Anne Stephensen, The Arizona Republic

The Dead Fathers Club: Reading Guide - Matt Haig The Dead Fathers Club: Reading Guide - Matt Haig

Scott Shane's outstanding work Flee North tells the little-known tale of an unlikely partnership ...This meant having absolutely no life for four months, living on cereal and toast, getting through pens at a rate of one a day, and having surreal dreams about tropical fish and Roman Emperors. His pub landlord father has died in a road accident, and his mother is succumbing to the greasy charms of her dead husband's brother, Uncle Alan. The remaining certainties of Philip's life crumble away when his father's ghost appears in the pub and declares Uncle Alan murdered him. Lovers of Hamlet will savor The Dead Fathers Club. . .The Dead Fathers Club, at heart, is the wrenching story of a boy who can’t cope with his father’s death. He is 11 years old and powerless, not a prince with infinite charisma, and still the ghost keeps demanding that he show vindictive bravery. That Haig lets the problem overwhelm the boy so relentlessly gives the book its haunting power. . . The Hamlet-sized story doesn’t crush the innocent telling. In fact, in places, youth refreshes the older vision. . .in a climax in which Philip seems to overhear himself, he muses: “Dads are just men who have babies but I know he loved me because I felt it go out of me when he crashed. It was like air or blood or bones or something that made me me and it wasnt there any more and I had only half of it now and I didnt know if that was enough.” That last beautiful clause —“I didn’t know if that was enough”— achieves understanding while still preserving ambivalence. Its eloquence is hemmed tightly with doubt and fear. He is right: We never know if we have what it takes to make it through, and circumstances have forced him to learn this too young. It is irresistible to wonder if Haig chooses the protagonist’s age not only for its inherent vulnerability but also because another Hamlet–Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet — died at the age of 11. If so, “The Dead Fathers Club,” a tale of grief, holds a posthumous mirror up to the Bard, and offers him empathy. Todd Shy, News & Observer, Raleigh

Reviews of The Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig - BookBrowse

One of the greatest challenges a writer faces is sustaining a narrative voice that differs from his or her own natural mode of expression. How were you able to think your way so successfully into the mind and diction of an eleven-year-old boy? This loose reworking of Hamlet is full of poignant insights and literary in-jokes, plus the author does a nice line in grim hilarity. Easy Living THE TRUTH ABOUT GHOSTS 1. The only people who end up ghosts are MURDERED. 2. Some ghosts like Dad dont know they are murdered until after they die but they always find out. 3. All ghosts get the Terrors. 4. The Terrors can only stop when ghosts stop being ghosts. 5. Ghosts can only stop being ghosts when they get Revenge. 6. Ghosts can only get their Revenge when the murderer is killed. 7. Not all the Living can see ghosts only some of the Living and they are mostly the children of the ghosts. 8. If the Living dont take Revenge in the No Time the ghosts stay ghosts for ever.

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I showed him the keys and he said I think its for the red mini bus not the white one. And I got to the car park and I couldnt see the red bus because you cant see colours in the dark but I could see white so I went to the other mini bus. Even though, as the author, you possess the ultimate power to “change the story,” you have chosen to give your novel an ending that many readers may not feel is an optimistic one. How did you come to this particular ending for the book? My intention was to write a story that connects with people emotionally and hopefully that connection works the same with or without an in-depth knowledge of Hamlet. After all, Shakespeare himself was the king of re-writes, and Hamlet itself echoes earlier vengeance stories.

The Dead Fathers Club: A Novel by Matt Haig, Paperback The Dead Fathers Club: A Novel by Matt Haig, Paperback

In theory, yes, the author has that ultimate power but with this novel the ending was the only one that fitted, and it dictated itself. It is bleak in some ways, but there is optimism there too. I hope.

Beyond the Book

Q. Unlike poor old Hamlet, Philip lives in an age when mental stability comes in little bottles. But the drugs really don’t work, do they? If Hamlet were 11, he might write this. What I liked about this book, The Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig, is that although it’s what they call an adult novel it is written just like an 11-year-old kid talks. I am not English like the boy in the book, Philip Noble, and I am a little bit older – 12 – but I can understand him very well. . .It’s good and it doesn’t sound like a grown-up trying to be a kid . . . Roger K Miller, Philadelphia Inquirer When Dad died Mum didnt wear her tan or her Make Up but when she started seeing more of Uncle Alan she wore her tan again all over and her Make Up even at breakfast and she went to the gym with Renuka again and when she didnt go to the gym she did the DVD and it was called The Hollywood Workout with Nancy and Bobby. And I was with her before I went to school and she had her face in the carpet and her arms and legs in the air. Bobby with big muscles was saying This is called the Superman move because with your arms and legs off the floor you can feel like you are flying. And I said Mum how longs Uncle Alan staying here? And Mum was coughing into the carpet and saying Hes being very kind Philip. And that was an answer to a different question so I asked the question again and she said Please Philip Im doing my workout. Phillip is taken to the hospital where he discovers a news article that suggests that his father's ghost was lying. Phillip's father is still visible and still attempts to persuade Phillip to murder Alan, who chooses not to listen to his father. Alan eventually dies due to injuries sustained from Phillip's rescue, but it is left unclear as to whether Brian's ghost was saved from the terrors or was simply a figment of Phillip’s imagination. This is a very impressive novel; it’s being published as mainstream (and the Hamlet parallels throw it solidly into the literary-novel category rather than genre fantasy), but anyone with a passing familiarity with the plot of Hamlet could read it with great appreciation. Whatever you call it, it will be one of the major fantasy novels of 2007; it’s that good. Andrew Wheeler, senior editor at the Science Fiction Book Club

The Dead Fathers Club: FAQ - Matt Haig The Dead Fathers Club: FAQ - Matt Haig

His dad, who was killed in a car accident, appears as a bloodstained ghost at his own funeral and introduces Philip to the Dead Fathers Club. The club, whose members were all murdered, gathers outside the Castle and Falcon, the local pub that Philip’s family owns and lives above. Philip learns that the person responsible for his father’s death is his Uncle Alan. When Philip realizes that Uncle Alan has designs on his mom and the family pub, Philip decides that something must be done. But avenging his father’s death is a much bigger job than he anticipated, especially when he is caught up by the usual distractions of childhood—a pretty girl, wayward friends, school bullies, and his own self-doubt. Angelfish come from a family called Chaetodontidae. I dont think fish know they have such long names. The best thing about Angelfish is that even when they are big they can disappear because they are so flat that when they face you you cant see them even though they are right in front of you.A ghost story with a twist—a suspenseful and poignantly funny update of the Hamlet story. Eleven-year-old Philip Noble has a big problem: His dad, who was killed in a car accident, appears as a bloodstained ghost at his own funeral and introduces Philip to the Dead Fathers Club. The club, whose members were all murdered, gathers outside the Castle and Falcon, the local pub that Philip’s family owns and lives above. Philip’s father tells him that Uncle Alan killed him and he must avenge his death. When Philip realizes that Uncle Alan has designs on his mom and the family pub, Philip decides that something must be done. But it’s a much bigger job than he anticipated, especially when he is caught up by the usual distractions of childhood—a pretty girl, wayward friends, school bullies, and his own self-doubt. The Dead Fathers Club is a riveting, imaginative, and quirky update of Shakespeare’s great tragedy that will establish Matt Haig as a young writer of great talent and imagination. The Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig – eBook Details