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A review by vkaz
The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny
4.0
I found it hard to rate this book, but after considering all aspects, I give it 4 stars. This is not a pleasant escape to idyllic Three Pines.
I love the topic and theme of the book—mercy killings—and Penny was brave to take this on. She also took on the subject of the pandemic, another brave choice; though in the book, the pandemic is definitively “over,” after vaccines are introduced.
But a few of Penny’s choices don’t work out so well. It takes forever for us to learn that statistician Abigail Robinson is endorsing mandated euthanasia, based on conserving scarce resources for the healthy and non-disabled. There are too many cloying hints about Robinson’s controversial views. I wanted to have somebody come out and say it! Also, near the end, there is so much back and forth about who specifically killed the victim, that I stopped caring. It made Gamache and his team look like blithering idiots.
But…there are moments of brilliance in this book. Jean-Guy’s journey as father of a special needs child is sensitively and realistically described (I have a special needs child myself). Reine-Marie’s side job of working as an archivist brings up a shocking story, which weaves into the main plot. Penny brings up the idea of the Asshole Saint—personified in Haniya Daoud, the Nobel Prize nominee who saved women and children but is insufferable to be around.
The characters in Three Pines and the Surete are, as usual, amazing creations, and it’s wonderful to meet up with them again. There are great pairings of characters in conversation—Gamache and his son-in-law, Jean-Guy, and then Surete director Isabelle and the asshole saint, Haniya, as they both tell their stories of suffering.
I love the topic and theme of the book—mercy killings—and Penny was brave to take this on. She also took on the subject of the pandemic, another brave choice; though in the book, the pandemic is definitively “over,” after vaccines are introduced.
But a few of Penny’s choices don’t work out so well. It takes forever for us to learn that statistician Abigail Robinson is endorsing mandated euthanasia, based on conserving scarce resources for the healthy and non-disabled. There are too many cloying hints about Robinson’s controversial views. I wanted to have somebody come out and say it! Also, near the end, there is so much back and forth about who specifically killed the victim, that I stopped caring. It made Gamache and his team look like blithering idiots.
But…there are moments of brilliance in this book. Jean-Guy’s journey as father of a special needs child is sensitively and realistically described (I have a special needs child myself). Reine-Marie’s side job of working as an archivist brings up a shocking story, which weaves into the main plot. Penny brings up the idea of the Asshole Saint—personified in Haniya Daoud, the Nobel Prize nominee who saved women and children but is insufferable to be around.
The characters in Three Pines and the Surete are, as usual, amazing creations, and it’s wonderful to meet up with them again. There are great pairings of characters in conversation—Gamache and his son-in-law, Jean-Guy, and then Surete director Isabelle and the asshole saint, Haniya, as they both tell their stories of suffering.