An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

338 pages

Book Club Read

Blurb

In his much-anticipated debut novel, Hank Green—cocreator of Crash Course, Vlogbrothers, and SciShow—spins a sweeping, cinematic tale about a young woman who becomes an overnight celebrity before realizing she's part of something bigger, and stranger, than anyone could have possibly imagined.

The Carls just appeared.

Roaming through New York City at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship—like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor—April and her friend, Andy, make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day, April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world—from Beijing to Buenos Aires—and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight.

Seizing the opportunity to make her mark on the world, April now has to deal with the consequences her new particular brand of fame has on her relationships, her safety, and her own identity. And all eyes are on April to figure out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us.

Compulsively entertaining and powerfully relevant, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing grapples with big themes, including how the social internet is changing fame, rhetoric, and radicalization; how our culture deals with fear and uncertainty; and how vilification and adoration spring for the same dehumanization that follows a life in the public eye. The beginning of an exciting fiction career, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is a bold and insightful novel of now.

Review

“They tell you that power corrupts … They never tell you how quickly.”

I have to be honest and admit that the main reason I picked up this book was to discover what John Green’s brother’s storytelling might be like, and that a small part of me was ready to be disappointed. In the back of my mind was a small voice telling me that Hank had probably gotten himself a book deal because of who he is (related to) and since they are as famous for their Vlog Brothers videos together as John is for those wonderful books of his. It didn’t seem too far of a stretch that a clever marketing person had decided to take advantage of all those facts. And, in a funny way, if that had been the case, it would have tied in nicely with the story in this book.

And, to be honest, for all I know what I imagined above may well be exactly what happened. Now that I finished the book it doesn’t matter anymore. Hank Green, with this book, not only took away my doubts about whether or not he might be able to write a good story, he more than surpassed any hopes I had before I started reading.

In fact, this book captivated me right from the very first, intriguing, paragraph which ends with the words:

“…but simply understanding that I am (or at least was) human.”

But, if you think that’s fascinating, it gets even better when we get to the last line of chapter two:

“That night was probably the best night’s sleep I had until after I died.”

So yeah, this was an intriguing read. The story line is fantastical, ‘science-fictiony’ even. But, while the story about the Carls, the mystery they present the world with, and the consequences of their appearance reads like a fast-paced adventure, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is so much more than a techno-thriller.

As the blurb suggests, the book deals with the issues of social media, fame, radicalization, and dehumanization, the story is deeply human and sensitive. It doesn’t hit the reader over the head with shocking truths and bleak revelations. April May’s seduction by likes, followers, and fame is both gradual and subtle. It would have been so easy to change her from a happy-go-lucky young woman into a media diva with no thought for others, but that’s not what happens. Sure, quite a few of her actions, and those of her friends, are fuelled by the fame they’ve found and the unexpected need to hang on to it, make it bigger. But I never once doubted that April’s intentions came from her heart, even if her executions ranged at times from impulsive to incredibly short-sighted.

“You can only do so much pretending before you become the thing you’re pretending to be.”

I guess it makes sense that a story that looks at social media and shows it in all its glory and horrifying nastiness should be written by someone who happens to have over three million followers on his YouTube channel. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to that sort of fame, and the dangers it brings with it. But this book is about a lot more than that. It is also a story about young people being thrown into a situation they aren’t prepared for, having to find their way in a world as foreign as if they’d landed on a different planet.

I could go on for hours about this book. I haven’t even touched on all the more interpersonal issues the story touched; the friendships, the betrayals, and forgiveness. I failed to mention that April is bisexual and, when the story starts, in a relationship with a woman of colour. I should have because, while neither is a big plot point or issue in this story, Hank Green doesn’t fail to mention that both sexuality and skin colour do cause problems in our world.

Another thing I somehow left out so far is how much I loved April May’s voice as she relates her story. Her honesty, her quirky attitude towards life, and her innate goodness, which she can never completely get away from no matter how determined she is to push her cause forward, all endeared her to me worked wonderfully well.

If, now that I finished the book, I have a complaint it is the following. The book ended on what can only be described as a cliffhanger, and I detest those. And, even worse, that intriguing line from the first paragraph doesn’t really get the explanation it deserves. I guess that won’t happen until the next book, which I’m now very eager to read. Does anybody have any idea when we may expect it?

“Books are the most intensive of all current media. People are willing to spend hours and hours with a book. Additionally, people are still willing to pay for them.”