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A review by chwaters
The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith
4.0
Ariel's first life was lived somewhere in the Middle East. He had the distinction of being the only survivor in his village when the rebel forces clashed with the military. His path leads him first to a refugee camp and later to a foster home in America. Ariel's new life is with a family in Sunday, West Virginia. His new father works for a large biotech firm and had found a way of bringing animals back from extinction as evidenced by the family pet: a bionic crow suffering from severe depression named Alex. Ariel and his new brother Max are sent off to a summer camp run by the company their father works for. It probably wouldn't be so bad if the camp was a normal one. Instead it is a camp designed for technology-addicted teenaged boys, an affliction that affects neither Ariel nor Max. Needless to say, the camp is less than idyllic.
In the meantime, a man named Leonard is slowly making his way across America in a beat-up U-Haul. Leonard suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and consequently finds himself doing the bidding of a voice belonging to Joseph Stalin (his more destructive urges are kept more or less in check by another voice known only as 3-60). Leonard has also managed to get his hands on some nuclear material and has constructed a bomb, which rides cross-country with him in the back of the van. Since being around unstable nuclear material isn't particularly good for one's health, Leonard is, quite literally, falling apart.
In between these two narratives are the journals from an ill-fated 19th century Arctic excursion aboard the ship Alex Crow. They tried to find passage through the North before becoming trapped by ice. It doesn't go well.
All three of these seemingly disparate narratives manage to fit together in Andrew Smith's newest novel, which, in all honesty, is not the least bit surprising after reading last year's excellent and unusual Grasshopper Jungle. Not only is this one completely unpredictable, it's utterly hilarious. It easily captures the tone and character of teenage boys, for better and for worse. The writing is reminiscent of one of my all-time favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut, which only makes it better in my opinion. My only criticism is that the biotech angle is so similar to that in Grasshopper Jungle that it feels almost derivative. The stakes here aren't quite as grave in this one either. Still, plenty of food for thought and a thoroughly engaging read.
In the meantime, a man named Leonard is slowly making his way across America in a beat-up U-Haul. Leonard suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and consequently finds himself doing the bidding of a voice belonging to Joseph Stalin (his more destructive urges are kept more or less in check by another voice known only as 3-60). Leonard has also managed to get his hands on some nuclear material and has constructed a bomb, which rides cross-country with him in the back of the van. Since being around unstable nuclear material isn't particularly good for one's health, Leonard is, quite literally, falling apart.
In between these two narratives are the journals from an ill-fated 19th century Arctic excursion aboard the ship Alex Crow. They tried to find passage through the North before becoming trapped by ice. It doesn't go well.
All three of these seemingly disparate narratives manage to fit together in Andrew Smith's newest novel, which, in all honesty, is not the least bit surprising after reading last year's excellent and unusual Grasshopper Jungle. Not only is this one completely unpredictable, it's utterly hilarious. It easily captures the tone and character of teenage boys, for better and for worse. The writing is reminiscent of one of my all-time favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut, which only makes it better in my opinion. My only criticism is that the biotech angle is so similar to that in Grasshopper Jungle that it feels almost derivative. The stakes here aren't quite as grave in this one either. Still, plenty of food for thought and a thoroughly engaging read.