A vacation goes wrong — very, very, apocalyptically wrong. Children are sadistically beaten and sometimes raped and killed at a Florida reform school. A woman helps a dying friend and reflects on life and mortality. November was a month of books with heavy topics. But a light read found on a list of "15 feel-good books guaranteed to lift your spirits" helped lighten the load.
'Leave the World Behind' by Rumaan Alam
What I thought — It's sometimes the not knowing that makes things absolutely terrifying.
A middle-class white couple on vacation with their two teens at a luxurious Airbnb in a remote corner of Long Island are startled by a late-night knock. At the door is an elderly Black couple, who say they own the home. There's a blackout in New York, and it seems something terrible is happening, they say. And being technology-disabled (no phone service or television!), it's hard to determine exactly what — or if — something is going on.
It's an apocalyptic, end-of-days thriller without the gore, dead bodies or zombies. Alam does a good job getting inside the heads, fears and unease of the characters, building tension. And for those looking to improve their vocabulary (I had to look up some words), Alam's prose will appeal to you. "Leave the World Behind" is a National Book Award finalist.
At book club — Is it symbolic that two book club members stopped reading at the point where the couple's teen son threw up? "Leave the World Behind" is a title three of us had on our "to read" list because of the hype it received and the interesting premise. But for most of this group, it did not hit its mark. I was the only reader who liked it, though it was my least favorite of the books I read this month.
Most were not fans of Alam's overwritten, erudite prose, but the lack of closure and unsatisfactory ending was most bothersome. It went on and on and never really got anywhere, one member said. I kept hoping for an explanation, said another. One reader called it the second-worst book she had ever read, followed only by "Eat, Pray, Love," which did lead to a discussion of the most disappointing books we've read. (Mine is "Life of Pi." I didn't finish it.)
Much has also been made about provocative race and privilege issues in this book, but I didn't see it, and neither did any of the members. One said Alam brought us to the precipice of a conversation about race, but then didn't go anywhere with it.
'The Nickel Boys' by Colson Whitehead
What I thought — I have actually had this book, the winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, since last year. I even started it once and read the first two chapters. At only 210 pages, "The Nickel Boys" isn't a long book, but it packs a punch — a heart-wrenching gut punch — in that short amount of space.
It's the 1960s, and Elwood, an intelligent, ambitious African American boy from Tallahassee who is poised to do great things, is sent to the Nickel Academy, a reform school. He ends up at what essentially is a prison after hitching a ride in what he doesn't know is a stolen vehicle. Once there, the studious teen, who still has hope he can fight injustice, finds a friend in Turner, who is more streetwise. Elwood attempts to serve his time without incident but is brutally beaten on two occasions.
I remember reading about the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, the reform school in Florida on which Whitehead's book is based, and thinking, how could this have happened?
Tears streamed down my face as I finished the final gut-wrenching chapter. (A 2009 investigation by the Tampa Bay Times about the real-life school, which operated for 111 years, is even more difficult to digest. Testimonies from the boys who "went in damaged and came out destroyed" and the accompanying photos — streaks of blood on the wall of the building known as the White House, where boys were beaten so badly they sometimes ended up in the infirmary, or even worse, an unidentified grave — will haunt you.)
At book club — It was easy to grow attached to Elwood Curtis, the sweet teenager who believed in justice, respected authority and listened to Martin Luther King. Though we all agreed it was a grim read ("I almost stopped after the first beating," said one member), we all agreed it was a story that needed to be shared. Shamefully, 60 years later, we are still looking at some of the same issues of race with segregation and disparities in treatment, one member said.
Bonus books
My third club chose a book but postponed the discussion until December.
— I admit I picked up "What Are You Going Through" because of the cute tabby-striped cat on the cover. It wasn't the cheerful book I was hoping for (even the talking cat's tale is a bit sad), but Sigrid Nunez's novel about cancer, mortality, old age and life's regrets has some surprisingly funny, laugh-out-loud moments and life observations.
The plot is loose. An unmarried and childless narrator is recruited by a terminally ill longtime friend to help end her life. They go on a suicide vacation ("Lucy and Ethel Do Euthanasia"), where the dying friend vents and the narrator listens. Meanwhile, the narrator meanders, but not in a bad way, to other ordinary moments in her life.
I may have to pick up another well-known book by Nunez, "The Friend." It has a dog on its cover.
— The Washington Post published a list of "15 feel-good books" in October, because, honestly, who doesn't need one right now? At the time, I put four on my "want to read" list. "Beach Read" by Emily Henry was the first to arrive at the library.
Two fiction writers, nemeses from college and both suffering from writer's block, in a twist of fate (most romance novels have these, right?), end up living in neighboring beach houses. January Andrews is a romance writer who no longer believes in fairy tale endings or love. Augustus Everett, a pessimist who had a rough childhood, writes serious literary novels. Though a bit soft, sweet, and, yes, cheesy at times, the dynamic between the two characters and good-natured, humorous banter elevate this feel-good book to a perfect distraction for right now.
