Today is Leonard Peacock's birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather's P-38 pistol.
But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart-obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school's class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches.
Matthew Quick is the New York Times bestselling author of several novels, including THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, which was made into an Oscar-winning film. His work has been translated into more than twenty-five languages and has received a PEN/Hemingway Award Honorable Mention, among other accolades. Q lives with his wife, novelist/pianist Alicia Bessette.
I have started typing this review 5 times and I just cannot come up with something that makes sense. I am not sure if I liked this book. There are parts I did like but a lot of things that disturbed me. I did not really find a way of reading in this book making the story a bumpy ride. And I don't like that.
What I did like? There are some questions Leonard is asking himself about life and a future. He is a very unhappy kid and has been looking for a way to become happy. One of his ideas is looking at adults. What he notices is that they go to work in a bad mood and go home in a bad mood too. I had a great laugh about this observation because I often notice this too and wonder why people would stick to things they don't like. There are more of these situations in this book which actually makes you think about your choices and surrounding.
What about the rest? The rest of the book was disturbing. You slowly get to know what happened and why Leonard made his plans. There are obvious more reasons why he became who he became and it is all just really sad and depressing. It does make you think about a lot of things though which is good.
So in short? Bumpy depressing read with some serious topics
Forgive me, Leonard Peacock
Author: Matthew Quick
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 288
Format: eGalley
ISBN-10: 0316221333
ISBN-13: 9780316221337
Publisher: eBook | Hardcover | AudioBook
3 reacties
Write reactiesThis sounds interesting but I think I'd find it really depressing too. I can't imagine how that scenario would arise, with a kid setting out to shoot himself and his friend, without me feeling really hollow in the pit of my stomach. I'll probably give this one a miss. Thanks for the review.
ReplyI think it is meant to be a difficult read emotionally. To get to the point where you're considering murder/suicide, you've got to have been fairly messed up by life.
ReplyDoes not sounds like something I would read...
ReplyConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon