The Leftovers: A Novel

Another fabulous novel from Tom Perrotta. It's a wonderful premise - people living in the aftermath of the Rapture, but what's surprising for those left behind is that the world isn't that different from what it was before. What's different is the way the trauma of losing loved ones and closed friends affects them. Perrotta sets the story 3 years after the event, when life has gone back to normal - for some at least - and they're still struggling to make sense of it all. He shifts perspective between the four key members of a family. The father, Kevin, has become mayor of the town and is struggling to maintain a sense of normalcy for everyone. His wife, Laurie, has joined a group called the Guilty Remnant, who don't speak, wear all white clothes, smoke constantly and follow people around trying to make sure no one forgets the horrible day and that a second day of reckoning may be coming. His daughter, Jill, a former honor student, has given up on school and taken up with a fast group of kids who play promiscuous sexual games. His son, Tom, has run off and joined the Healing Hug movement and then discovers its charismatic leader, who promises he can absorb other people's pain with the power of his hugs, turns out to be just another preacher with a messianic complex and an appetite for sex with teenage girls. The other key character is a broken woman who lost her husband and young son and daughter. She's so devastated, she's not sure she'll ever be whole again. It's a fascinating read. Even if you're not religious, it gets you thinking about how we all are collectively blown away by, and then gradually become inured to, major traumas like 9/11. The mother's storyline, though, offers a harrowing portrait of how horribly self-deluded we can become in an effort to have the world's tragedies make sense. Alongside all this "deep-thoughts" stuff is Perrotta's trademark humor. He doesn't write joke lines, just insightful observations and little details that surprise. I found it particularly funny which celebrities he decided would be chosen by God on this fateful days - the Chosen Ones include John Mellencamp, Jennifer Lopez and Vladimir Putin of all people. (Stephen King's review of the book in The New York Times captures it far better than I can. Not surprisingly, given the source, it's probably the best book review I've ever read. It gives the essence of the book without giving anything away, highlights all of its provocative thoughts, and gives samples of the writing to whet your appetite without any of the snarkiness authors have come to loathe in book reviews.)

It's nice to just look at a review at a short glance and figure out whether or not the book you are thinking of buying is going to be worthwhile. In this case I can say that I did like reading "The Leftovers". Plain & simple. Unlike many of the other reviewers I have not read any other books by Mr. Perrotta, nor have I seen any movies that he was involved with. Therefore I had no preconceived notions of how I might like or dislike this book. I had heard Tom being interviewed on the radio and caught the last few minutes of them discussing this book and it intrigued me so much that I had to buy it on my Kindle. It sounded like the book was kind of sci-fi-ish, kind of spiritual, kind of traumatic, all in one. The book was an easy and fast read for me. The concept while not exactly original did have an interesting twist to it that then became new & fresh. I did connect with some of the characters, although only in a way that I was constantly trying to figure them out. I wanted to know what they were going to do next. Some of them did not "ring true" to me. But in a world where everything is topsy turvy then we can't always know what people will do. In fact some folks do the complete opposite of what you'd expect of them. In that regard this tale becomes acceptable in terms of what these characters were doing. For me, I must confess, I wanted to know what happened to everybody - why did people vanish in the first place? Where did they go? But that wasn't really what this book was about. I think the purpose of telling this story was to take a look at grief and how people deal with loss. Sometimes the ways in which people cope with grief are quite unique and totally unexpected. Even bizarre. It also seems to be a story about survival - sometimes that's how we have to function in life. It's one foot in front of another. One day at a time. Until we get through it. Really. And that process can indeed be boring. Or perhaps disturbing. So if you like to read about people who are trying to deal with a tragic scenario, and it's aftermath then maybe this book is right up your alley. Yes, it's fictional of course. We're not talking about 9/11 here. Yet, the event in this story is something similar in a surreal way. I only finished reading this last night and am still thinking about it. It's still rolling around in my brain. In the end, if a writer can write a book that does make people remember it the following day, or makes the reader think about what it all meant, or it makes them care enough to write a review...then perhaps that is an indication the writer was successful and the book was in fact good. The 4 stars ( instead of 5 ) was because I thought the ending was a little weak - compared to the beginning. To me a book should start with a bang and end with a bang. But that's just me.

I found the book boring- the main bulk of the story is centred on people's daily routine - you have an air of mystery in the first chapter but then it dies off, only to reach the grand finale right at the end.

Loved this book and the premise of people just vanishing at the blink of an eye and how those left behind would deal with the loss. Tom Perrotta has a fine turn of phrase, humour and this, for me, is the best of his novels I have read so far (loved The Election) with an lovely couple of twists at the end.

Historia muy lineal, siempre esperando a que pase algo y nada pasa, mejor ve la serie es mucho mejor pasa todo lo que uno espera q pase en el Libro

Well told and convincing version of the biblical «rapture» (not to be confused with the end of the world!) seen from the perspective of the leftovers.

舞台は、数１００万人が地上から忽然と消えた「サドン・デパーチャー」が起きた３年後のアメリカの閑静な町Mapleton。住民は、自分たちが残った理由がわからないまま、大切な家族や友人を突然失った苦悩を抱えながらも、それぞれの道を歩み始めている。全員が無事ではあったものの、家族は崩壊したGarvey家の４人を主役として、この町での人生模様を描く。町長に選ばれ、町民の日常回復に努力する、楽天的な父Kevin。家族を捨て、奇行が際立つカルト集団に身を投じる母Laurie。息子のTomは、いかがわしい預言者に傾倒し、大学を中退、あげくの果て彼のお荷物を押しつけられる。反抗期の娘Jillは、母親の家出や親友との別れで自分を見失う。４人に加え、１人になり立ち直れないNoraと母親を失い、Garvey家に居候するAimeeが効果的な脇役を演じる。ストーリーは、明確な結末がないまま幕となり、彼らの今後の生き方には様々な可能性があることをうかがわせる。この事は、「サドン・デパーチャー」が起きた事と相俟って、良きにつけ悪しきにつけ不確実で流動的な人生を、実生活でも強いられている事を物語っているように思う。半年前の東日本大震災がふと脳裏をよぎった作品である。