MR. WHITE'S CONFESSION

By Robert Clark

Felicia led our discussion of Mr. White's Confession by Robert Clark. The book produced a polarity between those who liked the book and those who hated the book. Even between those with favorable comments couldn't agree on which characters they liked. Felicia's questions provoked a lively discussion that wandered far and near to the book's actual story.

Mr. White, the protagonist of the novel is plagued by an inability to make short term memory in the late 1930's in Minneapolis. Consequently he is forced to copy and paste everything into numerous scrapbooks. He finds himself enmeshed in a murder investigation by photographing strippers who become victims of a murderer. His inability to remember cripples his defense, even to himself and his oddness becomes his undoing as he is eventually convicted of crimes of which he is innocent.

Some members couldn't relate to Mr. White at all while some of us were drawn to the conflicted detective pulled between cynicism and altruism. And then some of us weren't attracted to any character. In the end we felt the author was more involved in relating a story about memory and playing with us intellectually in a dark room then he was with story-telling. It seems difficult to find authors who are able to meticulously plot extraordinary tales and still deliver excellent characters that you can enjoy from first page to last.

We ended up giving this book 3 1/2 stars but because of the wide difference of opinions, this may not be reflective of the novel's true worth. Despite any other disappointment, however, we went away after enjoying a very satisfying hour or more of conversation and discussion.