The Last Scroll by James Fricton

Comes with a health warning 

In the beer garden of The Dyvels , on a balmy Northumberland evening, the Hussies could barely contain their laughter as they quoted from their latest text,  The Last Scroll  by James Fricton.

Fricton, from the University of Minnesota, specialises in managing chronic pain and wrote this novel to reach his audience through the potentially transformational medium of metaphor.  It is a brave effort and there are some gems of wisdom in this long and relatively expensive text (£8 on kindle, £16 in paperback) but, sadly, it falls short of its noble goals.

In a style which emphasises ‘Tell’ rather than ‘Show’,  Fricton takes us on a tour of Italy with his hero  - a doctor in search of a new lease of life – to witness a “Da Vinci Code” style thriller/ love story and discover the various factors which perpetuate or relieve suffering.

Fricton’s health advice is grounded in international research and offers hope and guidance to all of us, not least those who suffer the daily burden of chronic pain.   Unfortunately,  it is difficult to either distil or believe this advice amidst everything else which is going on in his novel.   

The writing is at its best when describing sex and the Italian food,  but his portrayal of characters relies too heavily on the labels they wear (perhaps he has a deal on commission from Gucci, Benetton, and every other designer he specifies?).  The incredible plot follows Dr Ryan  for a lengthy 600+ pages  as he does this, he does that, he then does this and he then does that.   Multiple typos provide a further distraction from the potentially life changing messages.

It is a shame, that the writing in The Last Scroll distracts from Fricton’s health advice which is both aspirational and potentially inspirational.  Avoiding and relieving personal suffering  appears to be as complex as writing a novel, requiring us all to develop our own protagonists,  dialogue, settings and actions whilst shaping our audience and the real world we all inhabit.

In a real life parallel, worthy of Fricton’s plot, the new manager at The Dyvels, appeared to be Gino,  another Italian with an interest in food.   Sadly, we were unable to comment on many of his culinary delights as the chef was struggling to meet demand that summer night and most of our choices had sold out.

Despite the book and the food, we had a great evening in a very pleasant setting, and in  Fricton’s words,  we were "highly energised in our social, emotional and mind realms".   

Great venue for a summer evening

We will continue to follow Fricton's advice, stimulating our Mind and Social realm, by spending August, reading and reviewing Two Brothers by Ben Elton.