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A review by trogdor19
Lucas by Kevin Brooks
4.0
When I finished this book, I was mad and swearing and didn't like it. I hate books with sad endings, especially wehn the author puts in lots of ambiguous stuff that's artsy and doesn't seem necessary to the story and seems like it is pointing strongly to an underlying meaning that just isn't easy to figure out. So why the four star rating, you ask?
Because once I finished it, I couldn't stop thinking about it. It nagged my subconscious, begging me to analyze it, even though I prefer books that are fun and don't require much analysis. I never came up with a neat moral, but the themes underlying this book are universal and intriguing. The author touches upon the mutability of personality and how people change depending on who they are with and whether or not that is right or wrong (the book seems to conclude that it is not admirable, but people are what they are).
The main thing that caught me is that the main character, Lucas, is a mirror for others- both to mirror what they are and in some respects to give them what they need. The bad people see Lucas as bad, and Cait, the other main character sees him as good and gentle because that is what she is. He is the only character who is the same person in all situations, though other's perceptions of him change. Similarly, Lucas doesn't make value judgements about things (whether they are good or bad, ugly or pretty). Things just are. Yet he is the only one in the book who acts unerringly morally.
He also helps other characters grow: Cait's brother Dominic, who stopped drinking and screwing around, and he shows Cait that not all violence is bad. She wants to believe that violence is never the answer, but he shows her that the world is more complicated than that.
In the end, the evil and violence of the townspeople is channeled at Lucas, who dissupates it and resets a balance by sacrificing himself and leaving a record of who really committed the crimes he was blamed for, becoming sort of a Christ figure. This was a very thoughtful book, though very slow paced.
Because once I finished it, I couldn't stop thinking about it. It nagged my subconscious, begging me to analyze it, even though I prefer books that are fun and don't require much analysis. I never came up with a neat moral, but the themes underlying this book are universal and intriguing. The author touches upon the mutability of personality and how people change depending on who they are with and whether or not that is right or wrong (the book seems to conclude that it is not admirable, but people are what they are).
The main thing that caught me is that the main character, Lucas, is a mirror for others- both to mirror what they are and in some respects to give them what they need. The bad people see Lucas as bad, and Cait, the other main character sees him as good and gentle because that is what she is. He is the only character who is the same person in all situations, though other's perceptions of him change. Similarly, Lucas doesn't make value judgements about things (whether they are good or bad, ugly or pretty). Things just are. Yet he is the only one in the book who acts unerringly morally.
He also helps other characters grow: Cait's brother Dominic, who stopped drinking and screwing around, and he shows Cait that not all violence is bad. She wants to believe that violence is never the answer, but he shows her that the world is more complicated than that.
In the end, the evil and violence of the townspeople is channeled at Lucas, who dissupates it and resets a balance by sacrificing himself and leaving a record of who really committed the crimes he was blamed for, becoming sort of a Christ figure. This was a very thoughtful book, though very slow paced.