by Patricia Wood
I found this beautiful story while perusing some of the newly purchased books displayed near the check-out desk and on a whim, chose to borrow it, despite it being outside of the genre I tend to read. Within a few short hours, despite being in the middle of swot vac, I had finished the novel and was rhapsodizing about it to all my college friends and convincing them that they all had to read it after I was finished. I share this review with other library borrowers in the hope that they will also be moved to pick up this beautiful, memorable book.
The story is a fairly simple one, without a hugely complicated plot or character list. The charm of the novel lies in the control Patricia Wood has over the voice of Perry, the protagonist of the book. Perry is a man with an IQ of 76 whose claim to fame is winning millions of dollars in the lottery and dealing with the changed attitudes of his family and friends and his new-found celebrity. Though there is not much plot, readers will no doubt be flying through the pages, nervously reading through Perry’s experiences and crossing their fingers each time Perry’s selfish family concocts another plan to trick Perry out of his lottery winnings.
This book defied many of my expectations by being truly heart-warming and poignant without sounding artificial or trite. The story told from Perry’s perspective is instantly engaging, easy-to-read and sympathetic without falling into the trap of becoming annoying or childish. There are many humorous elements to the story although there are moments of frustration when the reader is desperately wishing that Perry would overcome the barrier of his low mental acuity. Readers are able to view the different facets of human nature through the distilled lens of Perry’s perspective and come to recognize that “simple” does not mean stupid. Patricia Wood manages to tell a beautiful story while subtly challenging our pre-conceived notions of intelligence, capability and happiness. It is a story which will remain with you for a long time after you put it down and which still brings a smile to my face when I recall my experience reading it.
Read if you also enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.
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Posted Wednesday 30 September, 2009. Updated Wednesday 30 September, 2009.
