ARC Review: Careful Readers by David de Aja
I was very intrigued by the concept of this book when I read the description. It certainly meets the criteria for the magical realism genre. The ability to travel between vast places wearing boots is a cool concept and an opportunity that I wish I had! Can you imagine taking one step instead of two 8-hour plane rides to get to Asia? Or taking a step and ending up in the exact place you want to be, whether that’s your best friend’s kitchen or some exotic beach. I thought de Aja got that feeling across very well.
This is David de Aja’s debut novel and it’s gotten a lot of good reviews. And while I think there are some excellent parts of the book and it has several strong qualities, I did not enjoy it as much as others seemed to. The beginning framing narrative of Carina and her writing and office job is clear. And I really enjoyed getting to hear Carina’s inner monologue. She is funny and self-deprecating. It’s interesting that the self-deprecation comes to be seen as a flaw. And the story isn’t wrong, she does often do herself a disservice. She is the character I relate to the most. There are a couple key moments that really spoke to me, particularly about her vision and how she uses it to shield herself. As someone who also has vision issues and finds it hard to let people in, I thought this was very powerful - “You trained yourself to be content with the blurred face of the person speaking to you, in case that person turned out to be near, and real, and yours to lose.” The book has quite a few excerpts like these that I connected with and were very insightful.
This was part of the reason that I think this book is a little disappointing. We see glimpses of great writing, and ideas, emotions, and experiences that are very eloquent. But then I would get confused in the story because the voice would change, the new chapter would change time periods, or something would come up that I couldn't understand. And sometimes even going back and reading didn’t help me figure it out. This is part of why I think it’s hard to get into. We get thrown into multiple perspectives without context and then complex things are happening so I felt challenged to keep up. I realize this happens in other books too but I rarely feel like I can’t figure out what is happening.
I have read some Faust, although not enough to give me a strong grasp on its presence in this book. It’s interesting that the book is advertised as not requiring a knowledge of Faust to comprehend the book. The description does say that an understanding of Faust deepens the narrative. And I am sure that is true but it’s so deeply ingrained that I am not sure it is that easy to follow without it. Characters are referencing stories that the reader may know nothing about and then utilizing what the story has taught them before we can even process the story itself. While the book made me curious about Faust, it didn’t inspire me to go rushing out to get his work from the library.
The concept of the deal with the Devil is fun and played out well here. All three characters are seeking to break their deal with the Devil. He has ensnared them well, preying on their weaknesses and therefore each deal offers them quite a boon. I thought de Aja did a nice job of pairing the two things. Carina, anxious about her budget but a big spender, is given a credit card with no limit and no payments required. Gaspar, who has long struggled with his writing, is given motivation and strong power of language. Yukiko yearns to be heard and so is given a voice that can be heard anywhere and in any way she chooses. In that same manner, the three all find a conclusion to their story that complements their story arch and desires. I found it interesting too that the Devil instigates the three people to come together. It made the story a whole but I didn’t really find a strong reason as to why he did that. And that’s something I want to know.
The best part of this book was the idea and conclusion that close reading is still extremely important. All three characters are considered “close readers” and this enables them to get out of their contracts once they discover the loopholes or mistakes. For Carina, it’s clear where her literary strength is, since her profession is a copywriter. And with Gaspar a writer, that made sense too. But what I liked about Yukiko is that she’s not a literal reader. Instead, her ability is to read a room, which, with a close read, can tell you almost anything. It was a reminder to me that I should spend more time being present in the spaces I am in and see if I can discover everything they have to say. Because it’s usually a lot! In a time where literacy is on the decline, and I am constantly encouraging younger people to read closely, this theme made me very happy.
The book was published with a book club guide included and I liked reading that. I was a little disappointed that some of the prompts gave me answers to questions I had from the book. I prefer to find those answers in the book and then use the book club questions to further my understanding. Instead I felt like they were telling me the answer I couldn’t discern from the book.
Overall, I think de Aja’s writing is strong and he has intriguing concepts. I do know that this is an Own Voices story and I always appreciate and have respect for them. But I also felt that a few times in this book it wasn’t crucial and didn’t further the story. I need to go back and review some of my Faust notes, although I doubt I’ll be jumping into Faust himself. I just want to put some things together in my head after I read about them here. I am interested to hear more people’s take on this book as more people discover it. Especially because I always feel off-kilter when my own opinions vary so much from the majority! We shall just see!
Many thanks to Sapere Aude Books and NetGalley for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy for review.
