I had never really been recommended a book. It was always either a book forced upon me for a book club, or a class; or I just didn’t read at all.
At the start of my junior year my English teacher immediately got into the thing that most students dread; the quarterly reading assignment. It was a very general assignment, any non-fiction book of your choice. I was screwed. Not only do I hate reading, I have never had an interest in non-fiction.
Of course the teacher had a list of recommended book for all his students and midway through class he mentioned one of his favorite books with a background in human psychology. This is where he got my attention. I respect this teacher and trust his opinion so jumped right in, feeling a weird urge to immerse myself in some good reading. I found myself enjoying one of the best books I have ever read. The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman was a realistic story about the lives of people while they are alone; their behavior and weird tenancies. It shows who we really are without all the backgrounds they we put ourselves in.
How do you tell a story of a physiological genius and what he sees in his bizarre day-to-day life? What Chuck Klosterman did to effectively hold my attention was to tell the story through a female narrator by the name of Victoria. The main focus of the book ‘Y____” finds himself needing a therapist, but not for ordinary reasons. He instead relays all his interesting discoveries on to his therapist of choice. Victoria, being his therapist, in turn writes about the stories relayed to her by the “Y____.” She includes notes about her thoughts on her patient and it gives more perspective on how a reader would handle the situation. Vicki expresses her concerns, excitement and her anxiety about her patient who tells so much, but yet stays so mysterious.
We take our solitary time for granted. If we are lucky we spend most or out time with people we enjoying being around. But this can be both a blessing and a curse. Time alone is precious. It tells us about who we really are. No matter how such we try to deny the fact, we hide under a social blanket when in front of social groups. Because of the way we are raised, and with the help of character, we unintentionally change our behavior in certain situations. It is peculiar to think about who you really are when you walk around your room quietly having a conversation with yourself. Talking to your own thoughts doesn't make you smarter. It does however build who you are as a person. This is how Klosterman started to get me thinking about what I did when I am in the company of no one but my self. Not only does my time alone puzzle me, but what about other people in solitude? How do they alter themselves when in groups? Am I worse than they are when it comes to putting on a fake act when interacting with others? A book that gets a reader thinking, even when they aren’t reading the book is a book worth reading.
Ultimately, this book includes everything a thirsty reader could want. It holds the characteristics of a suspenseful mystery novel. The author writes in the form of short stories, and makes the reader understand that what you are reading is not in sequence. He even ties in some violence when necessary. Everything he writes he articulates in such close attention to detail. I hate to feel like a book pusher, but you this is a gateway to the other amazing works of Chuck Klosterman.
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