Tournament of Books discussion

thread for Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam

Predictably, my Libby hold and physical library hold became available the same day! (This just happened to me with Mexican Gothic last week too.)

So not the greatest book to read during a coup, because it successfully creates similar feelings of not knowing, tension, worry about the future, feeling like nothing will be the same, etc. I felt the best thing the author did was to create a tense read that made me want to keep going, even staying up late to finish. (Let's be honest, it's hard to sleep anyway.)

Still it only ends up being about a 3-star read for me. It just didn't feel finished or resolved enough. So much is left unexplained and that is not a pleasurable experience! But I do think it will be a lot of fun as a discussion point in the tournament.

I probably wouldn't have read it without its inclusion - it struck me as a hype book, which I often avoid for a while. I didn't mind reading it sooner because it was quick.

(view spoiler)[I'm still not sure it wasn't aliens though? (hide spoiler)]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Predictably, my Libby hold and physical library hold became available the same day! (This just happened to me with Mexican Gothic last week too.)

So not the greatest book to read during a coup, be..."


I can definitely see what you mean. There wasn't much of a story arc...but maybe that was the point? The story kept the reader in a sort of suspended horror, and the author didn't want that feeling resolved, or for there to be a climatic end. It's unfulfilling in some ways, but to me it didn't feel unfinished.

lark wrote: "There's a certain cynical meanness in the language of this novel that didn't appeal to me, but I think it's a huge part of its appeal for other readers."

Can you expand on that more? I think the language was chosen to illicit discomfort, as was the couple's response to the homeowners being black, the words and scenes all felt very purposeful. Is that what you mean by meanness?

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Predictably, my Libby hold and physical library hold became available the same day! (This just happened to me with Mexican Gothic last week too.)

So not the greatest book to read during a coup, be..."

I kind of dug the unexplained stuff. Not every apocalyptic/disaster scenario is going to be like World War Z or a Tom Clancy novel where your points of view know what's going on; getting a story about the experience and uncertainty of some random bystanders in the early hours of a story like that (with just enough aside bits of omniscient narration to eerie things up) was pretty interesting to me.

Elizabeth wrote: "Can you expand on that more? I think the language was chosen to illicit discomfort, as was the couple's response to the homeowners being black, the words and scenes all felt very purposeful. Is that what you mean by meanness? ..."

I think it's masterfully done and it's more the language itself I'm talking about--the way the sentences work. Not so much the events or the characters.

Archie was fifteen. He wore misshapen sneakers the size of bread loaves. There was a scent of milk about him, as there was to young babies, and beneath that, sweat and hormone. To mitigate all this Archie sprayed a chemical into the thatch under his arms, a smell unlike any in nature, a focus group's consensus of the masculine ideal.

This is very interesting writing to me. It's so harsh and so judgmental. Whoever is talking--is it the narrator, the author, someone in the family who is in the car with Archie? it isn't clear--has a cynical disdain about life in general, and a dislike for teen boys, and maybe also marketing focus groups, in particular.

The language IS the story for me with this novel--the caustic cynicism, and its attention to the unpleasant details of life--like farts, and much other stuff that writers usually leave out--made it a highly interesting read.

"Clay opened all the windows, banishing the stink of his farting children."

I just finished the book, reading the second half in one setting because I wanted to know what happens but also just wanted to be done. Something about his writing just didn't work for me.

The built up tension seemed out of order to me. The initial fear and suspicion of GH and Ruth (which it turned out was nothing to worry about), the panic over the blackout before they had other signs of the real danger (which it turned out WAS something to worry about). Maybe that was the point - fear and assuming the worst from everything. Three pages of describing "the sound." "The sound happened! It was loud! It sounded like a loud sound!"

And why didn't anyone turn on a radio?!

lark wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Can you expand on that more? I think the language was chosen to illicit discomfort, as was the couple's response to the homeowners being black, the words and scenes all felt very ..."

My problem with this book, at least as far as I got before DNF'ing, was the writing - it was SO overwritten for my taste. The 'Archie' quote in Lark's post above is a good example - each sentence on its own is so evocative, so clever, but piled one on top of the other, the effect is suffocating. Too much of a good thing. Like Lark, I heard a voice that sounded cynical and mean. I don't think this was the author's intention - I think he was aiming for something similar but milder.

Maybe this is a pitfall for talented writers- relying too much on their skill with words, at the expense of other fiction writing tools.

lark wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Can you expand on that more? I think the language was chosen to illicit discomfort, as was the couple's response to the homeowners being black, the words and scenes all felt very ..."

Okay yes, I definitely see what you mean. I didn't really conceptualize this while I was reading, but I'm sure descriptions like that, and the bluntness of the characters' thoughts, were part of the icky feeling I had throughout.

Ickiness and mounting panic...And yet I didn't want to put it down.

Nadine wrote: "each sentence on its own is so evocative, so clever, but piled one on top of the other, the effect is suffocating. .."

yeah, that's a very interesting take.

I hate that I have these thoughts but another thing I thought as I read was that it felt very much to have been written by a man. Regardless of the fact that it was. I can't really defend that feeling or the idea that men and women write differently or that writing has a gender element to it, though.

Simms wrote: " Not every apocalyptic/disaster scenario is going to be like World War Z or a Tom Clancy novel where your points of view know what's going on..."

Yeah, this book is what happens to NPCs when they're not on screen. The way they behaved in this book, you can see why they aren't "heroes." They can't make decisions properly. For instance, when they finally decide to send someone to town to see what's up, they send Clay?? Seriously?

I read this one awhile ago now, but I quite liked it at the time. What engaged me the most was the exploration of the very early days of some kind of apocalypse, before anyone knows what’s going on. The author tapped into that uncertainty and anxiety and then just hung out in that space for the whole novel. I think that takes courage as a writer. It’s easier to give a resolution of some kind, even if it’s a horrible one. Here, we readers are in a kind of liminal space with these characters. I loved that and think it’s quite unique (at least I haven’t read anything similar). The racial and socio-economic elements were an interesting component too. I also agree with the other points being made about the ponderous writing, but that didn’t bother me too much.

Wow Gwendolyn I totally love what you wrote about this novel and it's giving me a whole new way to think about it. Thanks.

Gwendolyn wrote: "... before anyone knows what’s going on. The author tapped into that uncertainty and anxiety and then just hung out in that space for the whole novel."

Yes! You've exactly captured something I had not been able to crystalize. It is this exact thing that made this novel intriguing to me.

Yes, I had the exact same thoughts while reading. It reflected and intensified the nameless foreboding I've felt for my family, country and world for the past year. It's not about an event, it's a book about dread.

Elizabeth wrote: "Yes, I had the exact same thoughts while reading. It reflected and intensified the nameless foreboding I've felt for my family, country and world for the past year. It's not about an event, it's a ..."

Yes! And the stress of the not knowing compounds all of it. I still feel it!

I think that Alam wrote very deliberately about his characters, purposefully making them stereo-types and never going past the surfaces or having them develop in any way. I'm not sure that I respond to that kind of story-telling, where who the characters are is far less important than what is happening, but it felt deliberate.

I do think that it's interesting that he chose to follow characters who aren't up to the challenge of adjusting or surviving. Bookstores are crammed with books of remarkable "chosen one" protagonists managing to win despite overwhelming odds (no where is this so prevalent as in YA fiction) or characters able to give insight into what is happening. So this is a new thing in that sense (although Devolution by Max Brooks does something similar).

Alison wrote: "I think that Alam wrote very deliberately about his characters, purposefully making them stereo-types and never going past the surfaces or having them develop in any way. ..."

That's a really interesting observation, Alison. I hadn't considered that the flatness of the characters might have been so wholly intentional.

Alison wrote: "I think that Alam wrote very deliberately about his characters, purposefully making them stereo-types and never going past the surfaces or having them develop in any way. I'm not sure that I respon..."

I did love the idea that the daughter would be alright in the coming years because she had read all of those YA novels.

Alison, great point about an intentional choice to create characters that might not be “survivors.” I hadn’t thought about that, but it seems right to me. A very intriguing book all around.

It feels weird to give one of the most unsettling books I can ever remember reading only three stars, but while the prose is incredible at evoking the suspense and horror of events as they unfold, I found it pretty bad at depicting the characters. I do think Alison's point about them deliberately being stereotypes is interesting--I did at one point early in the book think it read almost as a parody of literary fiction--but if it was a deliberate choice it didn't work for me.

Sophia wrote: "II did at one point early in the book think it read almost as a parody of literary fiction ..."

Because of covid I've been reading a lot more e-books this year and I've learned my reaction to fiction really changes with the change in format. I really can't explain it logically, it's something about being able to see where I'm going (?) but anyway I now have the physical book in my hands for a re-read and it's so different. as an e-book it felt like near-farce, and as a book-book I'm feeling the foreboding and dread far more.

I also agree that the author was very intentional with the characters. I've read his other two books as well and he's a very character-driven writer.

I ended up putting this in my "liked" category, although there were things that didn't work for me, especially the ending (what ending?). I did like the general weirdness and imagination on display. Very creepy. And I liked the way it zigged where I thought it would zag a few times (race, for instance). I'm glad I read it, not sure to whom I would recommend it, tho.

I just finished this, and while it had various elements that I'm normally not wild about for literature, this just worked for me right now.

I have been desperately wanting to avoid dystopia/apocalypse/pandemic-related books since March of last year, but the ToB is forcing me to suck it up with the short list picks. If this story took place a tad farther into the timeline (say, starting where it ended), I would have been annoyed. But this was that slow build up of what those brief last moments look like before everything changes. I didn't realize "pre-apocalyptic" fiction would work for me, but I found this one to be expertly balanced by the hyper-realism I've been craving this year.

Are some of the descriptions overwritten (like the passage lark posted)? Yes, but I somehow didn't notice that. Does the narrator have some cynicism/disdain for the characters? Maybe, and normally I love to see characters that are wrapped up in the compassion of the writer, but I guess I didn't need that with this story.

Normally I appreciate some resolution with endings (although it needs to be realistic; no pretty-little-bow-HEAs for me please), but I actually savored the ambiguousness of this ending. The world is ending, we're not sure why or how much longer the families in the story will survive, there are countless unanswered questions... but that's okay. It's realistic and resolved in its own way.

Oh, I'll note that I listened to this on audio, at times following along with my print copy. I listened to it before falling asleep last night and it definitely pulled me into a wild dream of being in a similar situation (a rental house where a mysterious girl -I think she was Japanese in my dream?- shows up and she's doing stuff in the house to mess with us. Then I notice my hair is falling out (this was well before the teeth parts of the story - creepy connection there!). Anyway, the audio worked well but I probably don't recommend this as bedtime reading. ;)

Lauren wrote: "...no pretty-little-bow-HEAs for me please..."

Lauren, what does HEA stand for? I've noticed other posters using that term as well, but I don't know what it means.

Phyllis wrote: "Lauren wrote: "...no pretty-little-bow-HEAs for me please..."

Lauren, what does HEA stand for? I've noticed other posters using that term as well, but I don't know what it means."

"Happily-ever-afters" is my best guesstimate, though it's not an acronym I've encountered a great deal

Yes, “happily ever after.” Sorry for the confusion!

I am so happy to see more discussion on this novel! I have read several on the short list, but this one has stuck with me the most by far.

- The constant tension of dread/ nervousness/ fear was done so well. As a previous reader stated, the pre-apocalypse focus was fascinating, especially living in the time that we currently live in.

- I mostly did not like the characters. However, I saw myself in them a few times.

- The flamingos!

This book and Telephone were intense and emotional books for me, a distraction I enjoyed . Rooting for one of the two to win!

I agree--I liked that it was unexplained. It was a twist on the genre.

Thank you for explaining it better than I could. I loved this novel. Luckily, I read it last fall and not during the middle of a coup.

Gwendolyn wrote: "I read this one awhile ago now, but I quite liked it at the time. What engaged me the most was the exploration of the very early days of some kind of apocalypse, before anyone knows what’s going on..."

You articulated my thoughts perfectly.

Lauren wrote: "I listened to it before falling asleep last night and it definitely pulled me into a wild dream of being in a similar situation (a rental house where a mysterious girl -I think she was Japanese in my dream?- shows up and she's doing stuff in the house to mess with us. Then I notice my hair is falling out (this was well before the teeth parts of the story - creepy connection there!)..."

It's the ultimate symbol of helplessness, having your teeth (or hair) fall out, such a perfect symbol for this family thrown in the midst of a story they can't control.

(Imagine how it would feel to suddenly find all your teeth loose...shiver. Even worse to see it in your child.)

Elizabeth wrote: "Lauren wrote: "I listened to it before falling asleep last night and it definitely pulled me into a wild dream of being in a similar situation (a rental house where a mysterious girl -I think she w..."

Yes, I think the teeth were the most disturbing part of the story for me.

Yes, the teeth! I would so much rather have my own teeth fall out than those of my kids. I can’t think of anything worse for a parent than watching your child become seriously ill in front of you and not be able to do a single thing about it.

I've spent a lot of time with this book now, and from a beginning place where I wasn't even sure I liked it, it has become my favorite book of TOB 2021.

lark wrote: "I've spent a lot of time with this book now, and from a beginning place where I wasn't even sure I liked it, it has become my favorite book of TOB 2021."

I keep thinking about this book even though I finished it awhile ago. That always tells me that it was a better book than I originally thought.

Janet wrote: "I keep thinking about this book even though I finished it awhile ago. That always tells me that it was a better book than I originally thought."

I totally agree. I sometimes go back and re-rate books that have stuck with me awhile. It's kind of like a haunting.

The person who noted (Lauren, I think?) above that you shouldn't read this just before bed...um, yeah, I agree. That's when I do most of my reading, in bed at night, and this book gave me so many terrible, weird dreams that I had to switch to only reading it during daylight hours. That's a great book, in my opinion! I can still access the sense of dread it created in me...wow.

I'm diving in for a fourth time, honestly, I'm fascinated by this novel and how it works. This time I'm listening to the audiobook. The narrator is really good.

It's a very complex book in terms of craft. At first it's written in a way that you assume it's one of those big social novels like The Corrections, and then it morphs into something more stark, some kind of an examination of privilege and race and prejudice...and then there are a series of ever-more-horrific encounters, all of which never spill over into the expected violence, AND THEN it leaps into a seriously gorgeous meditation on what-might-be-next if and when the rarified world we live in collapses.

I don't say "gorgeous" too often about novels and the way they're written. The flamingos in the pool. The deer moving in huge herds. Rose in the woods, and the little fire of hope the author puts out there for us readers, when he assures us that she'll survive. And that through her something meaningful will survive.

The novel does keep reinventing itself and upending expectations which seems to have pissed a lot of goodreads people off, based on their reviews.

"as an e-book it felt like near-farce, and as a book-book I'm feeling the foreboding and dread far more.."

Fascinating! Reminds me how difficult and crucial it can be to have the correct medium (is that the right word?) for each title. I read the eBook of this after deciding that audio wasn't the best idea. (I now don't recall why I decided that but probably because I am running out of available TOB books from the library.)

This book totally fell flat for me. I couldn't get past the word choice; too many sexual words that just popped out at me as WRONG. The penis doing yoga? the tumescent zucchini? I hurt myself with eye rolls too many times in the first few pages. I also read too many reviews prior to starting it. I knew too much about the dread-build?

Maybe print would have been the best choice -- when I don't instantly highlight and read the definitions of the odd words encountered.

Oh well. This is my least favorite book in the tournament. But I thank all of you here for explaining what you liked about it.

Yes, Clay's masturbation/sexual arousal scene near the beginning almost had me set the book down. As part of the whole, though, and in retrospect, the first part of the book almost feels like satire to me of the kind of books where every small thing and every feeling is detailed about the characters. Since the petty preoccupations of these characters in the beginning all crumble to meaninglessness by the end, I decided that I loved it.

lark wrote: "Yes, Clay's masturbation/sexual arousal scene near the beginning almost had me set the book down. As part of the whole, though, and in retrospect, the first part of the book almost feels like satir..."

I had a similar problem, Care. The language felt so overwritten that I couldn't get past it. It's the same thing that doomed The Prophetsfor me.

I thought this was very effective on audiobook though probably too effective in that it felt like a fever dream about my society level anxiety (if i hadn't nailed down the nightmare quality 'teeth just start falling out' would have done it) so i have trouble recommending it to anyone who's currently experiencing 2021.

It was interesting how this book began with an almost Franzen-ey look at the foibles of a middle-class family (as y'all said, it was almost acidic in how it talked about each and every one of them, except Rose) but seemed to grow more compassionate towards each of them as the true scale of the crisis became clear.

This is one of those contemporary fiction books I really enjoy having gone into thanks only to some specific source having given me the title and author and knowing nothing or hardly anything more than that about it. I had no idea where this was going when G.H. and Ruth showed up at the door and was in as much confusion as Amanda and Clay. Were they legit, is it just a simple blackout, what's going on out there? I thought it was a fantastic look at the state of high anxiety you'd be in in the first few days of an uncertain unknowable near-apocalypse, heightened by being thrust together with people of a different, well, about everything, on top of that. I also enjoyed the prose, though occasionally I found it a tad confusing and uncertain who was speaking, but that could be said to add to the novel's effect.

Kyle wrote: "almost Franzen-ey look at the foibles of a middle-class family ,..."

YES!

And because I dislike that sort of book--mostly because there is a certain cynical meanness to the way characters characters are portrayed, usually, that always seems to be part of this kind of novel--it took me a long time, and a couple of re-reads ,to realize that the first part of the novel is a masterful feint that disarms the reader before we plunge into a completely different story entirely.