The Librarianist

DeWitt, Patrick. The Librarianist. New York: HarperCollins. 2023. Print.

First Sentences:

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 face of a dream interrupted.


Description:

For fans of books about slightly crusty, interesting, but lonely men such as found in A Man Called Ove, here's a much better story (in my opinion): Patrick deWitt's The Librarianist. Of course, I might feel that way simply because the protagonist, Bob Comet, is a former librarian and also because I did not really enjoy reading Ove.

But The Librarianst is a very compelling story with likeable, quirky, unpredictable characters. And this book made me gasp out loud with two words at the end of one section. That's a real rarity for me. You'll have to read it yourself to get those words, but believe me, you won't miss them or fail to be caught completely unprepared for their revelation and implications.

 

Comet, a retired librarian, lives alone after his wife ran off with his best friend decades ago. He enjoys walking aimlessly around his hometown until one day, in a convenience store, he notices an elderly woman staring into a stand-up freezer window, motionless for many minutes. He talks to her without any response before noticing a tag she is wearing around her neck. Her name is Chip and she is a resident of a nearby eldercare home.

 

When Comet walks her back to her home, he is met by a small group of residents and staff who intrigue him right from the start. He wants to know them more and begins volunteering to work in the center, reading and interacting with the people there, however they will let him. 

The book then jumps back to provide a narrative of Comet's early life, why he became a librarian, his marriage, future plans, and disappointments, before returning to his present day life with the senior center's inhabitants.

To be hurt so graphically by the only two people he loved was such a perfect cruelty, and he couldn't comprehend it as a reality. He learned that if one's heart is truly broken he will find himself living in the densest and truest confusion.

One cannot help but like Bob, feel a bit sorry for him, praise his attempts to reach out to the residents and staff, and begin a new life that fills the void he has been feeling since his wife left. He is good guy, a caring person. 

But what the future has in store for him and the residents of the senior center is completely unforeseen, at least to me, especially after those rwo unexpected words. The unknown is what drives the book's narrative and my consuming interest in Bob Comet and company.

 

I really liked it and the characters, odd as they might be, and feel many other readers might respond to Bob Comet and company in a like manner. Hope you enjoy this gem.

Part of aging, at least for many of us, was to see how misshapen and imperfect our stories had to be. The passage of time bends us, and eventually, it tucks us right into the ground.

Happy reading. 

 

Fred

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Jonasson, Jonas. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.   

An old man decides, on the spur of the moment, to escape his senior living home and take to the road. Within minutes, he mistakenly grabs a gangster's suitcase full of money. Chased by the mob and helped by various quirky friends, he has the adventure of a lifetime ... until he slowly reveals his previous adventures experienced in his century of living. (previously reviewed here)