Henry by Nick Bitzas

As the Canadian author, Nick Bitzas writes, Henry “is a dark psychological comedy told in vignettes consisting of dialogue”. It’s an experimental piece, but one that I think you will find very rewarding. Nick Bitzas does very well to pull off this novel way of writing over 30 pages. The protagonist, Henry, is very much an anti-hero, but you can’t help but be stimulated by the crazy world in which he lives. Although Nick Bitzas uses only dialogue, his excellent characterisation skills superbly draw the characters that make up Henry’s world, such as his best friend Jeffrey, who wants to write a dictionary that explains what people really mean when they talk with each other, and Henry’s possessive mother, who needs someone to be the man of their house, now that Henry’s father has passed away. Henry is a story that forces the reader to become fully engaged, as the reader does have to do some work to follow this challenging but rewarding narrative. And, as Nick Bitzas splendidly proves, it’s no bad thing to defy conventions from time to time.

An extract from the story:

Henry sent to the therapist by his mother

“Well, young man, your mother is very concerned about you.”
“Why did you become a shrink?”
“Well, it was the profession of my father, and the profession of his father, and the father of his father was also a therapist.”

“So what did your great-grandfather do?”
“What?”
“If your father was a shrink, and your grandfather was a shrink, and the father of his father (who is also your great-great-grandfather) was also a shrink, means that your great-grandfather has been left out.”
“I see. Well, let’s move on. Your mother is tired, Henry. She has brought you to every therapist in the city and nobody has been able to help you.”
“I feel like a barometer.”
“What?”
“I feel like a barometer.”
“I heard you, Henry. What do you mean by that?”
“I’m the human device that measures your competence.”

You can download the story from lulu.com below for 50p (approx. 1 Canadian dollar). The story is a 0.205MB pdf file:

http://www.lulu.com/content/4422422

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