A philosophical journey of a man into the depths of death and beyond, as he tries to piece together his new reality and make sense of how to exist, now that his perception of existence is dramatically redefined.
"There couldn't be a verb, an adjective, a noun, a pronoun profound enough to literarily liberate the emotion, the feeling, the thought and power felt below my feet as I turned onto that forested bypass, leaving the city and suburbs of my post-adolescence behind. It was freedom without a flag, pestilence without a cure; both likewise and subverted. And in lighting the spliff held gingerly between my aged, wrinkled and dilapidated lips, my destiny was prolonged only for the better. If the night were thicker, I might cast myself into an ocean of doubt. If my headlights were dimmer I might exalt myself under the most rude of Kings. It seemed that the only obstacle on the start of my journey was merely the wind; backward and pressing it was, as the Autumn always presumed it to be. And I felt as though I might be a kite without a string, a hook without bait; yes, the only deceit at my fingertips was the dirt beneath my fingernails. This journey of mine, wherever it took me, would be my last."
In This House, We Lived, and We Died, is a story about a man, aged and lost, in mind, body, and spirit, whose last quest takes him into the deepest abysses, across the sharpest precipices, and through the darkest abscesses of his soul so that he may collect the shattered and sunken remains of his all-but vanquished memory.
A sort of Spiritual Epic in the same way "What Dreams May Come" inspires to alter life dispositions, and in the same way "Fight Club" aspires to inspire with violent psychological psithurism, "In This House, We Lived, and We Died" aims to break all the rules of the literary journey and set a new tone for the world of imagination.
Professional Reviews
Beautifully Twisted
"Every step we take is meant to be taken, and thus nothing is ever a mistake"
Where do I begin...... what do I say? Well...let's start with how I felt after the beginning few pages....Huh......holy royal mind-BLOWN!....
The story of an old, broken, lonely man trying to make his way through the afterlife, searching for answers, and getting back the love he once knew of. His journey is one that grips the readers' imagination and keeps them ensnared with nothing to do but watch as the madness unfolds into a beautifully twisted story.
This man roams through the abyss of his afterlife, encountering what I would consider illusions of his so called imagination.
"You are simply a wandering fragment of a greater being, a soul that upon passing through death from one life to the next, was shattered and scattered..."
This lost soul treads through the deepest, darkest depths of his mind and subconscious...all in pursuit of finding who he believes is his lost love. We follow him through a labyrinth of memories and trysts as he tries to decipher his memories from those of the ones he encounters on this voyage. Through his story, he stumbles upon the one he believes to be the epitome of his lost love. He is determined to do what is needed to keep her as a permanent fixture in his eternal Heaven. He at last comes full circle with past youth and the aged man, both as one who are struggling to sever from each other for freedom from their warped "reality".
"I want to discover more. I don't want to just die and...retire to Heaven for the rest of eternity. I want to touch the farthest of fars. I can't allow myself to believe there is a limit to life, not this one or any that follow."
The depiction of the characters and the story is colorful and absolutely fascinating to read. The image that Matthes paints is one of great imagination and artistic ability . His verbal prowess is sincerely ingenious. His knack for portraying this story in such a vivid and intriguing manner is awe-inspiring.
This story...and its characters are very much a beautiful dream............
"An average person walks one hundred and fifteen thousand miles in their lifetime," she said "how far will you walk before you realize you never had to leave?"
Bravo Dave!
Great book!
This is the first book that I have read by this author. In This House, We Lived, and We Died is about a man's journey through his so called "after life". The book starts in a common neighborhood that anyone could live in but then you are transformed to a supernatural place that defies the laws of nature and physics around you. It is mythological adventure which is a combination of Homer's The Odyssey, Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. With the author's descriptive writing and plot twist that are around the corner, this is not a book you can read "casually" while jogging on the treadmill. If you do you will miss something. I had to reread the first hundred pages cause I thought it would be like any novel in today's world, but I was wrong.
Matthes uses a style of writing has been lost in American literature for decades. The book questions the western point-of-view of death and how we take our thoughts, memories, and knowledge with us. It is a thought provoking novel and should not be read by someone without an open mind and an IQ less than 110. All though I do not think this is his masterpiece but expect his books to get better and better as the years go by.
A very heavy read...
This book was a doozy. I'd like to start out by saying that this book is BY FAR the heaviest work of literature that the author has produced and that I'm honestly left speechless, The beginning was slow going and quite difficult to navigate. But like an onion I was able to peel back the layers one by one and like an onion it made me cry; because its absolutely beautiful. This book is about a man who's wanderlusting through his subconscious and through his "afterlife" searching for answers, I found it to be a love story, and at moments its a suspenseful adventure. The author painted yet again SUCH a vivid portrait in my mind. I found myself unable to put it down. If you're looking for a book that's going to make you think; look no further this is your book. The Author ensnares your attention by using metaphorical and slightly poetic dialog.The copy that I have is a first edition with italic, bold or cursive fonts I loved that, I feel like each character had a voice. The ending to this book is bittersweet and as was the buildup. I would highly recommend this book to someone who loves a good story.
Heaven sent us an angel. She could be your neighbor. Her friends call her Megan, but when her eyes are glowing, everyone calls her Ember Reign.
Megan Martin was an average teenager. She felt cheated when her grandfather died and grandmother
