Contacts by Mark Watson Book Review

Released: 29th October 2020

Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Society

Number of Pages: 370

Since the early 2000s, comedian Mark Watson has covered a broad range of genres in his bibliography. One of his newer releases, Contacts, reaches for an empathetic tone.

At five minutes to midnight in March 2019, James Chiltern boards a sleeper train out of London, intent on ending his own life. He sends out a final message to his friends and family and sets off with a few food items and the heavy weight of depression. Responding to the message, several contacts look to find him while reflecting on their previous interactions. We switch back and forth between these two perspectives across three main acts; Chiltern travels further north while his acquaintances are based all over the world.

These faces include Jean, James’s mother, his flatmate Steffi, ex-girlfriend Mikaela and former colleague Karl; all of their individual perspectives are conveyed across the pages. Whenever a chapter switches to them, their personalities and mannerisms take centre stage. Simultaneously their own experiences with James are chronicled across many chapters with equal doses of wit, conflict and pathos. For the most part, the drama is internalised, a recall of past events filled with both joy and regret. The use of technological communication weaves everything together.

Delving into the past leads to some emotionally charged moments and you’ll find yourself connecting to Chiltern in several of them. That irate customer you dealt with at work, the difficulties of a failed relationship, the distance from those you care about; all of them are presented with a sensitive lens. These are situations any one of us can go through, which makes for a great sense of empathy.

Recommended?

MAYBE: Contacts and its blend of human stories and connection is mostly well written. The way it seamlessly moves between memory and the present create an immersive hook. To inject a greater sense of mystery and form a stronger connection with the protagonist, I would have removed the locations for James’s chapters. In this way, not knowing where he is would have provided more urgency for his mental turmoil and his friend’s efforts to find him. The conclusion felt a little shallow as well as we don’t see much in the way of reconnection between the characters.