Red Rage by Brigitte Blobel
Anger management. This is a phrase we hear all the time in the media. Sportspeople, film stars, and even children are sent to psychologists to learn these important skills. Blobel has made her own contribution to this discussion with this unusual new novel.
Mara has endured times of uncontrollable rage since she was ten years old. She copes with these fits by running, as far and as fast as she can, in order to avoid destroying something. Her life is out of control, and she can see nothing positive on the horizon, that is until she meets Tibor on the late bus home. Through Tibor she finds something worth struggling for. He is friendly, positive and seems interested in getting to know her. That is until she sees him with another girl.
I found this book very disturbing. The story is told from Mara’s point of view, and in her mind her anger is not something to be concerned about. Everything is considered normal. The author doesn’t make an effort to inform the reader that the narrator is unreliable until the very last episode and it’s disastrous consequences. Perhaps it would have been better to indicate to the reader that this anger was a bad thing before Mara went over the edge.
However, I did appreciate the fact that the apology did not immediately restore all to rights.
