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.”
