The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt

 

First Line: The morning of the day Bob Comet first came to the Gambell-Reed Senior Center, he awoke in his mint-colored house in Portland, Oregon, in a state of disappointment at the fact of a dream interrupted.

 

When retired librarian Bob Comet returns a confused elderly woman to her home in a senior center, he finds his solitary life surrounded by books becoming larger. Having decided to volunteer at the senior center, Bob becomes involved in the life of the residents in all their eccentric glory, and the more he becomes involved, the more his past and the details of his character are revealed.

 

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I can see where some readers may become bored with retired librarian Bob Comet's tiny little life on the sidelines in The Librarianist, but I enjoyed it. Perhaps it's because I saw some of myself in this character as his life unfolded.

 

From the four days he ran away from home as a child to his true love being stolen to a painful revelation, Bob's character slowly opens like a flower in the spring sun. It is a rather melancholy existence to be sure, but there's also humor and an appreciation of life. At one point, Bob is asked, "Why do you read rather than live?" As The Librarianist moves to its conclusion, Bob proves that you can do both-- read and live.  

The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt

ISBN: 9780063085121

Ecco © 2023

Hardcover, 342 pages

 

Contemporary Fiction, Standalone

Rating: B

Source: Purchased from The Poisoned Pen.