The Leftovers: Book Review

I just finished another novel earlier this week, late at night, and what a time waster.

It started out really intriguing...from the cover art to the first few chapters.

And then it just getting getting.....weird.  That's the only word, besides, stodgy, I can describe this book as being:  WEIRD!

It is a little bit science fiction-y and contemporary but....after the middle of the book, I was getting impatient, bored and just confused as to where the author was going with this story.  This is one of the first books, as an adult, that I have read, that I simply just don't "get" the ending.  It is WEIRD!!

And yet at the same time it is a tiny bit intriguing!

SUMMARY OF BOOK

What if, all of a sudden, some of us disappeared??  Would it be the Rapture? Would some people simply collapse, while other people simply plodded on with life?

These are a few of the questions posed on the inside jacket of the book.

The citizens of small town Mapleton have lost many friends, neighbors, relatives, lovers and co-workers.  The event is known as the Sudden Departure.  And no one knows why or how this happened.

One minute a family of 4 is eating dinner and the next minute there is only mom left.

Ever since the Sudden Departure, nothing has been the same in Mapleton:  not friendships, marriages, or relationships between children and parents.

Kevin, the new mayor, is trying to speed up the healing process.  He desires to bring a renewed hope to the traumatized town.  His own family is falling apart.  His wife (Laurie) left him to to go and join the Guilty Remnant (a homegrown cult where the members take a vow of silence and only wear white and have to smoke cigarettes).  His son (Tom) has dropped out of college, and has decided to go off and follow a self-proclaimed prophet named Holy Wayne.  In this cult, they all go barefoot!  The teenager (Jill) is still at home and in high school but she has dropped from being an active honors student to partying.  Her good friend Aimee is living with them.  Kevin wants to help his daughter but he has a new relationship with Nora Durst who is a local woman who lost her entire family on October 14th the day of the Sudden Departure.  Most of the book takes place 3 years later.

The book is supposed to be about love, connection, and loss.

MY THOUGHTS

I found it very confusing as to the point of the book....other than the love and loss part.

I was hoping that Kevin's wife would end up back at home...I won't tell you what happens but she does NOT end up back with the family.  The ending was ok but not as exciting as I expected.    Time calls the author "the Steinbeck of suburbia".  I beg to differ!  He is NO Steinbeck!!  The author definitely describes suburbia very well though, especially small-town suburbia.  And his depiction of characters was excellent.  I could get a clear picture of each character in my mind with very little effort.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 5.