Saturday, May 5, 2012

Review: "The Borrower" by Rebecca Makkai



The Borrower by Rebecca Makki, above all else, is just a plain book that does not realize that it is a plain book. It tries to be great in many ways, ways in which I like and some that I do not like, but it never reaches past anything but a book that is read out of a faint sense of curiosity and is forgotten almost as soon as you place it on the book shelf (or if you are like me, sell it at Half Priced Books in order to make more room for books you may want someday). There is very little I know about Makki, but judging from her writing style and, superficially, her author photograph, she seems like a smart confident woman who may verge on the wrong side of smugness, but, giving her the benefit of the doubt for this review, she seems nice and I will not be too harsh, because this book is not bad, just generic. The main character in this novel is a young librarian who becomes fast friends with an eager young boy enchanted with the world of fiction. Seeing this boy, who shows latent signs of homosexuality, become the subject of his parents psychological abuses (which involves taking him to a sexual reassignment camp, if that is what they are called), she submissively engages in his plan to run away, leading a journey that unlocks secrets in her past. If this was a straight-up road novel, I could see myself enjoying it. The Family Fang was nothing new, but I really liked that. This book tries to be profound when it should have stuck to the entertainment and suspense. Stops that involve the librarian’s parents and their move to America, which reek of second rate Malamud, really derail this book, making the journey of reading it prolonged and boring. Not much to see here sadly.
Rating: 3/5

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