Books!

Time for another book review:

The Leftovers (author, Tom Perrotta, category, fiction)

(Before I get started I should note, for the sake of complete transparency, that the author is part of my extended family. But I should note in regards to that note that in my world, being part of my extended family doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to pick up the phone if you call, much less buy and read your book. So bias is unlikely, I think.)

The basic premise of the book: three years ago, a bunch of people suddenly disappeared in an event very much like the Rapture, except for the part where the people who went missing seem to have been a completely random sampling of humanity.

"So... like 'Left Behind,' but for agnostics?" you may be wondering, if you are unfamiliar with Tom Perrotta's work. But if you've read anything of his before, you know it's all about the relationships and the personal discovery. Forget brave, suspiciously young and buff scientists investigating the mysterious disappearances, or people lobbing grenades at each other in some post-apocalyptic hellscape - how will the mass disappearances affect Kevin and Laurie's marriage? Will Tom realize he's been sucked into a cult - and if so, what will he do next? 

That might sound boring (at least relative to the option with the grenades), but I promise, it isn't. I don't usually like the kind of books that are less about where the story goes than about where the characters go (couldn't we have at least one suspiciously buff scientist-adventurer?), but I read this whole book by mid-afternoon.

And I realized something: I realized that I need a new scale for reacting to books, with more options than just "like" or "didn't like."

"Like" works for books that are both society-approved and make nice feelings when you read them. I'm thinking Harry Potter, Pride and Prejudice, that kind of thing.

"Dislike" works for books that society doesn't approve of and that are just plain boring and bad (I won't give examples here).

But there are so many other categories. Liked-it-but-would-never-admit-it, for example (looking at you, Twilight...). Couldn't-finish-it-but-don't-want-to-admit-that (cough *anythingbyDickens* cough). 

Perrotta books are a conundrum. When an author does a brilliant job conveying the precise feeling of being on a horribly awkward date, or of watching a relationship fall apart - is that something I "like"? Well, I didn't want to stop reading, but I don't exactly enjoy the emotions being evoked. 

I know, I know - that's what literature is supposed to be. Deep feelings, thought-provoking situations, etc, not sparkley vampires and happy endings. It's true. 

But it needs something more than just "like." Some pithy way of expressing "I was completely sucked into the story, and here I am recommending it to my friends - but the feelings it made me feel were often not fun." 

(It's sad how far back I have to dig in my memory to find other books like that. Studying math has turned me into a reader of almost exclusively no-brain-required books - or that's my excuse, anyway.) 

Nope, no kids' book this time

Normally I'd review at least one other book here, but it's late, and I'm large and slow and tired, etc, I'll spare you all the whining and excuses. 

Instead, I will redirect you to here: http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_781_34-childrens-books-updated-modern-problems/ 

Read it, especially the #1 entry, which is a work of pure genius. 

(For readers who are unfamiliar with the "cracked" website - any article from there should be assumed to have naughty language and jokes about body parts/bodily functions. Continue at your own risk.)