Harry, Revised by Mark Sarvas
Publication date/ Length: 2008 / 264
Synopsis (from the back cover): Meet Harry Rent. Bumbling, lovable, good-hearted, misguided, foolish. Despite his every good intention, Harry usually manages to make a mess of things, mostly because he can’t quite get out of his head.
First Line: “Harry Rent used to fiddle with his wedding ring, now he fiddles with the space it has left behind.”
Review: I’m surprised it took me this long to read Harry. The author’s blog (The Elegant Variation) was one of the first I discovered when I entered the blogosphere, and I think I always meant to read his novel. So, when my friend mentioned enjoying it recently, I had an “Oh, yeah!” moment and requested it from the library.
I almost gave up on Harry in the first 10 pages! But then I remembered my “50 page rule” and thank goodness I kept going. At the beginning of this novel, Harry is a self-reflexive, neurotic mess, quite honestly, but this novel is a hero’s journey, so he only gets more likeable as the narrative progresses. I loved starting with a fairly unsympathetic character, only to truly embrace him by the end.
I initially wondered if Sarvas was taking a risk by beginning his novel with a fairly unsympathetic character — the first few pages are quite interior. We are trapped in Harry circuitous mind, unable to escape his relentless analysis of his own actions, thoughts, effect on others, and… everything!
But once I realized Harry is attempting to hit on a waitress on the morning of his wife’s funeral, well I just had to keep reading — this was just too terrible a first impression to create without just cause. But eventually I saw how Harry had come to that point and couldn’t help but root for him throughout his hapless, well-intentioned meddling into the lives of others. Harry is a character I felt I knew inside-and-out by the last page, and still miss him a bit, even weeks after finishing the novel.
All in all, I strongly recommend this quirky novel and am quite glad I read it! Anyone else give Harry a go?
Oh, this does sound intriguing. I love quirky books! Think Anne Tyler and Margaret Drabble.
Here’s my salon:
http://laurel-rainsnowsaccidentallife.blogspot.com/2010/06/sunday-salon-june-13.html