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fizzylex 's review for:
The Instructions
by Adam Levin
Well, shit. Not that I remember what I expected when I first started this book, but I'm pretty sure "The Instructions" is not what I expected.
Green Apple Books had been recommending "The Instructions" since it appeared on bookshelves and the cover looks pretty awesome (yes, I DO judge a book by its cover), so I know I had to read it. As soon as it was available in paperback (and I had a sweet discount that changed the cost to a mere two dollars), I bought it. It immediately became #1 on my to-read list.
"The Instructions" is a pretty astonishing book. It is definitely as incredible as Green Apple made me think it would be. But, like I said, it's not what I expected. It's about a ten-year-old kid from Chicago who could be a potential messiah (yes, could be a potential). By the end, I was pretty convinced Gurion ben-Judah Maccabee was definitely a potential messiah. As it turns out, the life of a potential potential messiah is REALLY, REALLY rough. I mean, this kid gets in physical fights all the time and his mother is an ex-sniper who teaches (and frequently encourages) Gurion to fight. Which was all really interesting until Gurion and his classmates beat up one of their teachers. I mean, that was really interesting, too, but at that point I had to put the book down for a few minutes. The last couple hundred pages of "The Instructions" got to be extremely "Lord of the Flies"-esque and I needed to take a few breathers. I mean, we're talking some serious kid-on-kid brutal, physical, bloody, murderous action here. It was shocking and unnerving and, at times, kind of scary.
I'm bummed that there wasn't much in the way of closure. I get that "The Instructions" takes place over the course of five days and in the coda, Gurion basically says "this may have happened or this may have happened but clearly what happens gets out of hand and stories are told and rumors are flying" ... but I still want to know what happened next. Gurion moves to Israel and he's in prison for a good length of time, but what about the relationships? He's obviously in contact with Emmanuel and Eliyahu, but what happens to Brodsky and Botha (I'm sure he never speaks to them again)? And where are June (who I assume he has some contact with), Vincie, and Mangey? I mostly want to know about Rabbi Salt. He was Gurion's biggest supporter and then he kind of dropped off the face of the earth.
To summarize, "The Instructions" was pretty awesome. I think there are a lot of loose ends, but I do not regret spending three months reading this book. (Okay, I sort of do. I have a lot of literary catch-up to get working on.)
Green Apple Books had been recommending "The Instructions" since it appeared on bookshelves and the cover looks pretty awesome (yes, I DO judge a book by its cover), so I know I had to read it. As soon as it was available in paperback (and I had a sweet discount that changed the cost to a mere two dollars), I bought it. It immediately became #1 on my to-read list.
"The Instructions" is a pretty astonishing book. It is definitely as incredible as Green Apple made me think it would be. But, like I said, it's not what I expected. It's about a ten-year-old kid from Chicago who could be a potential messiah (yes, could be a potential). By the end, I was pretty convinced Gurion ben-Judah Maccabee was definitely a potential messiah. As it turns out, the life of a potential potential messiah is REALLY, REALLY rough. I mean, this kid gets in physical fights all the time and his mother is an ex-sniper who teaches (and frequently encourages) Gurion to fight. Which was all really interesting until Gurion and his classmates beat up one of their teachers. I mean, that was really interesting, too, but at that point I had to put the book down for a few minutes. The last couple hundred pages of "The Instructions" got to be extremely "Lord of the Flies"-esque and I needed to take a few breathers. I mean, we're talking some serious kid-on-kid brutal, physical, bloody, murderous action here. It was shocking and unnerving and, at times, kind of scary.
I'm bummed that there wasn't much in the way of closure. I get that "The Instructions" takes place over the course of five days and in the coda, Gurion basically says "this may have happened or this may have happened but clearly what happens gets out of hand and stories are told and rumors are flying" ... but I still want to know what happened next. Gurion moves to Israel and he's in prison for a good length of time, but what about the relationships? He's obviously in contact with Emmanuel and Eliyahu, but what happens to Brodsky and Botha (I'm sure he never speaks to them again)? And where are June (who I assume he has some contact with), Vincie, and Mangey? I mostly want to know about Rabbi Salt. He was Gurion's biggest supporter and then he kind of dropped off the face of the earth.
To summarize, "The Instructions" was pretty awesome. I think there are a lot of loose ends, but I do not regret spending three months reading this book. (Okay, I sort of do. I have a lot of literary catch-up to get working on.)