Tin Man

TIN MAN

by Sarah Winman

 

Nominations: Carnegie Longlist 2019, Dublin Longlist 2019

 

Date Read: May 25, 2023

 

Tin Man is such a small, unobtrusive little book, I had no idea of the beauty, sadness and aching lurking inside. Parts of this were so beautiful I found myself weeping. The love among these characters was almost too much to bare. And why was that? I can only conclude it’s because Winman is a freaking genius when it comes to conveying the nearly indescribable intensity when two souls find their counterpoint in another. 

 

In broad strokes, Tin Man is about the friendship between Ellis and Michael. As children, they were inseparable, living in their own world where time seems to fly by. And as their own little world becomes more and more narrow, their relationship slowly becomes sexual as well. While Michael knows he is attracted to boys, Ellis is mostly straight except where it comes to Michael. 

 

Although the two become estranged as adults, Michael considers Ellis the love of his life, even though Michael is committed to G. In one unforgettable scene, G is dying of AIDS and since G is an artist, Michael lays next to G on his hospital bed and whispers to him the names of colors so he can visualize them in his head: cerulean blue, Naples yellow. This is an act of true love.

 

Some have commented that the transitions between past and present and perspective are problematic and the writing “overwrought,” whatever that means, but I found the topic of profound loss compelling and utterly moving. This is one of those books that I would read again in a heartbeat. 

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