Tuesday, February 24, 2015

In the mind of a stereotypical teenage mormon boy . . .

This book was hard for me to get through. When stuck in the mind of a character for the duration of a book, it helps to enjoy the mind that one is getting so intimately acquainted with. And Kyle was so over the top for me. Part of me admires the fact that Thayer was willing to show the reality of a teenage boy stuck in the snow, cycling through the same type of thoughts constantly for nine days. And then the other part of me was so annoyed that Kyle couldn't think of anything new, instead plaguing every chapter with redundant thoughts, giving Kyle very little breadth or depth, unless of course that's all there is to Kyle and then I don't care anyway. 

Photo by JonoTakesPhotos
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
At the same time though, the situation Kyle was placed in was fascinating. His lack of maturity and rather shallow being was sharply contrasted with the dire circumstances he had to deal with. His communication and remembrances of his Grandpa gave him a greatly-appreciated depth to his character and his smart thinking was interesting as he raced against time and the symptoms of death to be more than he was and survive more than his seeming time allotted. 

Overall, I can't tell if I just couldn't stand the actual character or if the book was actually problematic for me. I don't think it was written poorly, it was just unfortunately the type of story I feel no reason to read because it offers me no enjoyment, enlightenment, challenge, or intrigue. 

Thayer did provide some refreshing and "liberal" views when Kyle remembered scenarios regarding his mother, but even that wasn't enough for me to enjoy the characters Will Wonders Never Cease provided.


2 comments:

  1. I am totally with you. I thought Kyle was remarkably boring, given the fact that the book is about him. And I think the plotting of the novel made it difficult to get involved in--the most exciting moment happens in the first chapter!

    I'm curious as to what you mean by "problematic," because I think the book was problematic for me too, and I'd like to know more about what bothered you, I assume with regards to theme.

    The picture you used is a slam dunk. I'm jealous I didn't find that first

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  2. It's like trying to figure out all the reasons Twilight didn't work...

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