Random

by Lesley Choyce

Selected as 2011 White Ravens Title "If you think life makes sense, do not read this book." It's this credo that sixteen-year-old Joe Campbell lives by. You see, his birth parents were killed in a car accident, and four years later he's still trying to work his way past that loss. His new parents are as supportive and loving as he could wish. But Joe is still trying to figure out whether there is any pattern or purpose to his existence, and remains doubtful that there is an answer. Yet all around him patterns and purposes gradually take shape, and this compelling novel traces the thought processes and the people that eventually make a difference in Joe's life. The story is of Joe's digging into his past, and looking around the present, as he seeks to make sense of the world. But it's not a solitary quest as his good friends Gloria and Dean - both outsiders in the high school they all attend - accompany him on this quest for meaning. Random will resonate with many teenagers who, to a greater or lesser extent, find themselves besieged by doubt and speculation about their places in the world.

Genres: Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult

196 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2010

About the author

Lesley Choyce is a novelist and poet living at Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia. He is the author of more than 80 books for adults, teens and children. He teaches in the English Department and Transition Year Program at Dalhousie University. He is a year-round surfer and founding member of the 1990s spoken word rock band, The SurfPoets. Choyce also runs Pottersfield Press, a small literary publishing house and hosted the national TV show, Off The Page, for many years. His books have been translated into Spanish, French, German and Danish and he has been awarded the Dartmouth Book Award and the Ann Connor Brimer Award.

Lesley Choyce was born in New Jersey in 1951 and moved to Canada in 1978 and became a citizen.

His YA novels concern things like skateboarding, surfing, racism, environmental issues, organ transplants, and rock bands.

Reviews

[Brighton Hugg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was absolutely hooked throughout the entire book. It felt like this book was written exactly for me; the musings of the character were almost identical to my own philosophies. The author has an incredible way of empathizing with characters, and I love how he generalizes types of people by certain characters' names. We all have Deans, Glorias, and Rachelles in our lives.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

full review on my blog, holes In My brain

RANDOM is a novel narrated completely (and I somehow compare it to 13 REASONS WHY) through "digital diary entries", basically Joe is recording his thoughts, ideas, story etc. on a digital recorder. Because of this style, the tone of the novel is different and really feels like a one-sided conversation/expression of thoughts as opposed to something traditional.

What I really liked about this 'format' (if you can call it that) is how well the writing flowed. It's devoid of awkward phrases and the conversational tone was easy to keep up with. However, I felt the voice was slightly generic, I would definitely have liked something more distinctive and unique to it, something that would set it apart. Joe Campbell's voice is kind of unmemorable, but that doesn't mean his story is not.

You know what? I really like Joseph Campbell. Why? Because he is interesting! I don't say that lightly, I was genuinely interested in his various ideas, his friends, and especially his views on philosophy and life in general. I only wish there were less tangents or rambling because it took away from the story and could potentially bore me at times. That said, with a tragic past, Joe could easily have fallen into emo-angst teen, but he didn't, he seemed very normal (seriously, that's a good thing) and of course, unsure about life. Sound familiar? *points to self*

I thought Choyce did a lovely job creating supporting characters as well, Mom-2 and Dad-2 were both very likable, as were Gloria and Dean, Joe's friends. Each of his friends had their own crisis so it wasn't all about Joe (very refreshing) and the way Joe's friendship evolved as the people close to him changed was very telling of his character. The character growth exhibited by our boy Joe wasn't glaringly obvious, but I thought the subtleties made it more special... because let's face it, it's not always a Eureka moment.

Random is a unique tale of an every-teen (is that a word?) who has his issues but speculates the unknown, questions existence, and stumbles (like most teens) through life. A relatable, interesting and refreshing read.

3/5 - because I thought it was pretty enjoyable. I really liked the narration and the writing, but I felt the plot was lacking and there were one too many tangents of thought. I enjoyed most of Joe's ramblings, but sometimes it did feel a bit much, and I was hoping the story would move a bit faster. There are likable characters and overall, I felt it was... calming. A nice change of pace from the bang bang action, I really liked the themes and the ponderings of RANDOM.

[Homie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Random
Would you like to read a book about a kid that goes four years being depressed? Well this book has a main character name Joey. His Best friends are named Gloria and Dean. I chose this book mainly because I would rather read small books than try and read a large book. This book is called Random, but has nothing to do with random things.
This book starts off with Joey talking into a digital recorder. He starts to talk about how his parents have died and how his teacher unintentionally saved his life. Then he moves on to talk about his new parent that adopted him even though they knew about his background. Later on his best friend Gloria’s parents relationship had started to fall apart. Joey then kissed Gloria and they started dating. Dean on the other hand was having trouble with his sexuality, thinking he was gay. They had never ended the story with whether he was or not. Joey started chasing his past and ended up at the high school he would’ve went to. He started to talk to his old girlfriend and that didn’t end so well. Then he went back to his old house with Dean and Gloria. They broke inside and sat on the floor until the new owner of the house had returned. After this Joey had returned to the spot where his parents had died and almost caused the same thing to happen to other people. One person stopped and gave him a ride home. Later in the story Gloria’s parents had finally divorced and she started working with Joey. Now once a week Gloria comes over and spends the night with Joey. That it how the story ends.
This book in my opinion should not be named Random. This book has nothing to do with random events. Although this book has nothing to do with the name I did like this book until the ending because the ending was just plain and boring. I could relate to this book at certain points, even though a lot of it doesn’t, some of it does. I can’t say I had fun reading this book, because I don’t like reading, but it was an okay book.
I would recommend this book to people who don’t judge a book by its cover. Also this book is for people who have been in some dark times. This book will help them find out how to get out of this funk they are in. Lastly this book is for people who like to read short books. Also you can read this for a short book if you need it for English II class.

[TheSaint · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best novels I've read this year.
When he was a studious 12-year-old, Joseph Campbell had the unspeakable misfortune of losing both parents in a car crash. He avoided this trip to the movies with mom and dad, by staying home to do homework. Of course he blames himself and retreats from the world.
In the aftermath, he was much more fortunate -- he had a good lawyer and a wonderful couple who adopted him. Still, his world-view ws essentially nihilistic.
But now, at the ripe age of 16, he's beginning to question the life philosophy of random, unconnected events. He begins to examine that dark time in his life and through the help his close loved-ones give him, he begins to see that maybe life has purpose after all.

[Miss Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! It's a nice blend of rambling, stream-of-conscious fun with occasional mini-lecture interludes on stuff like Greek philosophy and physics and, of all things, vitamins. I feel smarter from having read it. Plus, it deals with two of my recent obsessions - grief and depression and the way they manifest themselves differently in different people. It has one of THE BEST descriptions of depression I've ever read. I'm sad that most people won't read it, most likely because it's a YA book and also because it's not about vampires. Oh well, it's their loss.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. I read it with a purpose -how would this fit into my Middle School library - but ended up liking it quite a bit. There's nothing in this book that couldn't fit into my school, but I did find that the character's almost schizophrenic musings sometimes difficult to follow. His thoughts and actions were perfectly normal for his age group and for his circumstances, but something about the story was difficult to engage with. A good read though, and I'll be looking out for more by the author.

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not really sure what I was expecting when I started reading this book, but it definitely wasn't what I got. I absolutely loved this book and had a difficult time putting it down. The story is not so much a story as just a stream of consciousness in which the main character Joe Campbell talks about his life and thoughts. It was all very interesting and I loved reading the random facts thrown in throughout the story. I learned a lot more than I expected to reading this book. This was an excellent read with great characters that I would recommend to everyone. =)

[Melanie Fishbane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book a lot. It reminds me a lot of Perks of Being a Wallflower. Through Joey, Gloria and Dean, Choyce explores the complex questions that we all have about the meaning of it all, why good things seem to happen to bad people and what we can do to find balance in the darkness.

[Kayla · Rating 1 out of 5]

"I am on chapter five and I am so bored... There's a lot of repeating and talking in circles. So far, not liking this book. (03/31/14 - 3:19am)"

It was weird. Not something I will read again. I did not like that it was all over place and he repeated too much...

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was actually a really good book. Had you contemplating life and stuff.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Told in a series of digital diary entries "Random" is the story of Joesph a boy who lost both of his parents at the age of twelve and was adopted by a loving couple. Joesph has never dealt with his pain from the loss of his parents he is now being confronted with memories and the emotions they evoke.

I thought this book had an interesting format but it didn't go deep enough. Joseph is dealing with big issues that can't really be examined in less than 170 pages.

[Adam Brockey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a pretty okay book, I'll just give it four stars because it wasn't exactly my FAVORITE, I mean sure it had great meaning to it and had great characters, but sometimes it got a little deep and heavy, and even if it's labeled a Teen book, I can see it's meant for somewhat older teens? Because I can notice there are some things like minor swears here and there, talk of sex and other related stuff. That put aside, great book, just the title alone caught my eye and I just wanted to read it because of that, that's the sign of good story writing right there.