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motherofbooks93 's review for:
The Pallbearers' Club
by Paul Tremblay
“I am not Art Barbra. That’s not my birth name. But at the risk of contradicting myself within the first few lines of a memoir. I am Art Barbra.”
This was such a weird and strange book that I found myself really enjoying.
This is basically the memoir of Art Barbra, who is telling his life story from when he was in high school into his adult years. He tells the story of how he was an outcast in high school and in an attempt to beef up his resume for college, he decided to start a club, The Pallbearers’ Club, where he and a couple more students would volunteer to be pallbearers for people who didn’t have anyone.
The memoir is being edited by his childhood friend Mercy, who he has always believed may not be who or what she claims to be. She has this strange knowledge of New England folklore and that doesn’t help her case with Art.
This is set in the 80s and while I wasn’t born yet, it did have that 80s feel (at least from the movies and tv shows I’ve seen from that time period). Art is a super likable character; it’s actually quite difficult to not like him. While taking us through his journey of life, we see the ups and downs he’s had and how they have affected him. One of the main things that affects him is that he has scoliosis and we see how it continues to affect him as he gets older.
The biggest draw of this story is the unique way it is written. I listened to the audiobook so I can’t exactly speak on how it looks physically in the physical book or ebook, but Mercy would interject at certain parts of the story to correct Art. She would also write a little section at the end of each chapter with her thoughts.
As the story progresses, I begin to get the feeling that there was something strange about Mercy. However, I couldn’t always tell if certain things were really happening or if Art was imagining it and I think that was one of the things I also enjoyed about this. The author leaves you with this question of what is real and what’s not, which is something I know everyone won’t like.
I also found myself so attached to Art. As he takes us through his life and the challenges he faced as he got older, I found myself empathizing with him and hoping that things would get better for him. He was such an endearing character that is very easy to root for.
The only thing I didn’t love was the ending. The ending just didn’t have the umph I was looking for. I wanted more from it and even though I loved the very last section, I wish Tremblay would have taken it in a little different direction. It does still leave you with the question of whether or not it is real, and that part I didn’t mind, but the rest was just kind of forgettable.
I still very much enjoyed this and while I don’t recommend it to every (or even most) readers due to its open endedness, I do think a subset of readers will really connect to this and enjoy the unique way it is written.
This was such a weird and strange book that I found myself really enjoying.
This is basically the memoir of Art Barbra, who is telling his life story from when he was in high school into his adult years. He tells the story of how he was an outcast in high school and in an attempt to beef up his resume for college, he decided to start a club, The Pallbearers’ Club, where he and a couple more students would volunteer to be pallbearers for people who didn’t have anyone.
The memoir is being edited by his childhood friend Mercy, who he has always believed may not be who or what she claims to be. She has this strange knowledge of New England folklore and that doesn’t help her case with Art.
This is set in the 80s and while I wasn’t born yet, it did have that 80s feel (at least from the movies and tv shows I’ve seen from that time period). Art is a super likable character; it’s actually quite difficult to not like him. While taking us through his journey of life, we see the ups and downs he’s had and how they have affected him. One of the main things that affects him is that he has scoliosis and we see how it continues to affect him as he gets older.
The biggest draw of this story is the unique way it is written. I listened to the audiobook so I can’t exactly speak on how it looks physically in the physical book or ebook, but Mercy would interject at certain parts of the story to correct Art. She would also write a little section at the end of each chapter with her thoughts.
As the story progresses, I begin to get the feeling that there was something strange about Mercy. However, I couldn’t always tell if certain things were really happening or if Art was imagining it and I think that was one of the things I also enjoyed about this. The author leaves you with this question of what is real and what’s not, which is something I know everyone won’t like.
I also found myself so attached to Art. As he takes us through his life and the challenges he faced as he got older, I found myself empathizing with him and hoping that things would get better for him. He was such an endearing character that is very easy to root for.
The only thing I didn’t love was the ending. The ending just didn’t have the umph I was looking for. I wanted more from it and even though I loved the very last section, I wish Tremblay would have taken it in a little different direction. It does still leave you with the question of whether or not it is real, and that part I didn’t mind, but the rest was just kind of forgettable.
I still very much enjoyed this and while I don’t recommend it to every (or even most) readers due to its open endedness, I do think a subset of readers will really connect to this and enjoy the unique way it is written.