You're welcome AllHallows!
I can't really describe his prose in relation to anything else. I've not read anything like this subject, nor have I read anything that even sounds like his style. He writes so simply, yet beautifully and every page tugs at the heartstrings, yet without going into endless metaphors and useless floral prose.
It is a descriptive economy of words such as I've never read. I could believe that he watched the whole story unfold before his own eyes. I could picture every scene in my head as vividly as if it were happening to me. In the emotional scenes, he tells it like it is without harshness but not sparing the reader any of the depth of feelings that David is experiencing. And there's no navel gazing or going off on tangents or endless self reflection. He just gets on with it, easily and without fanfare, but at a pace that sweeps you up with it.
I really don't know what it is about this book that just "got" me. I guess if you read for long enough you're bound to come across something that touches you deeply and profoundly. This book did it with me. My mother is alive and well so I can't even say I empathise with the loss of a parent as happened to the David character.
I think it was just a serendipitous confluence of events: the book's brilliant style, the subject matter that touched me, my mood at the time of reading, the wonderful discovery of a great book at a great price. Who really knows?
Damn, there I go again, tears welling up in my eyes! And in the middle of a work day too! If I ever met John Connolly in real life, I don't know whether I would kiss him or kick him *lol*
Actually, I'd probably kiss him, he's pretty cute!