I
tend to choose a light read in exam term, and this was this year’s book of
choice. It was Amazon recommended and I just so happened to stumble upon it in
the library, and that was that. From the outset I shall admit that I’m glad
this was a library find and not a purchase, or I’d have been a little disappointed!
In
terms of it being a light read this one lived up to expectations, beyond that
it was just a little flat for my liking. Essentially we follow the unnamed
narrator as he turns 25 and having grown disillusioned, loses his way in life a
little. So, questioning life and its meaning – or lack of – he drops out of
college, quits his job and spends his days hammering on a child’s peg toy and
faxing his meteorologist friend as he ponders the metaphysics of time, space,
life and our place in it. This could be incredibly poignant at times as the
narrator contrasts the simplicity of what used to excite him in life (cardboard
boxes, buttons and toys to name but a few) with how difficult he finds it to
attain such simple enjoyment and contentment as an adult. We travel with him as
he heads to New York in search of perspective and meaning, and finds that there
is indeed enjoyment to be gained from the simple things in life, and concludes
that perhaps this is where greater meaning lies.
It
was oddly comforting in a way, and although nothing huge was happening I kept
reading. There is something quite human in feeling a little lost, and this tale
seeks to say, simply and briefly, that things will be okay in the end. Which is
of course a rather nice message… particularly amid exams!
There
was something in Loe’s character reminiscent of Salinger’s Holden Caulfield, the
element of a youth wandering and a little lost in growing older. But NAME isn’t
a 13 year old boy, he is a year old man. It was difficult at times to reconcile
this reality with the character who took to hammering on a children’s toy as a
means to catharsis and fulfillment. Each to their own I suppose!
This book was indeed naïve; it was simple, friendly, funny and enjoyable in its
being so. Super however, it was not quite.
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