Patrick de Witt’s The Librarianist comes out as one of those literary fiction books that you know a book club you’re in is going to suggest reading, or will be on one of those tables at the front of the book store. And that will be fine. It won’t knock your socks off, but there are enough truly laugh out loud moments (de Witt’s The SistersBrothers remains one of the funniest books – no qualifier, just the funniest) and bright writing that it’s worth it.
At its heart its a novel (as the title suggests) about one character – a librarian, Bob Comet – and how that character in the last chapter (get it? librarian? chapter?) of his life changes how he sees himself and interacts with the world. That question – can a person change, to what degree can they change, do they only change in our expectations of them – circles the book but lands squarely on Bob.
Tied up with these questions of how we each see ourselves are those of aging and death, as Bob (in his early 70s) reviews his life and his decisions against his own expectations (one thing I liked about Bob was how very little he seemed to care about what other people expected of him) for what he could and should have done. For those Unitarians in the audience there’s a definite thread of individual journey amid community, with community
Warm and gentle – like any library I’ve ever visited – The Librarianist doesn’t ask too much of its reader, but delivers in beautiful writing, sweet moments and some really funny scenes.
Literary Vice 