Skippy Dies

This was the best contemporary book I read this year. (I also read war and peace, and that gets the spot for best book; sorry Mr Murray). I admit I was somewhat turned off by the title. The title is certainly descriptive, though: Skippy, the main character, dies, in the first five pages. Most of the remainder of the book goes back in time to explain why, and then to death with the aftermath.

The book takes place at a private boarding school for boys in Dublin, and in some ways the setting makes this book feel a lot like Infinite Jest without the DFW's broad literate virtuosity. This isn't at all slap against Paul Murray's skill as a writer -- nearly all of the characters in this book are wonderfully drawn, the plot moves forward at a fast clip, and there are moments that are both outrageously funny and heartbreakingly sad. And despite its outrageousness and occasional surreal moments the book feels very real, both from the point of view of the older characters and from the teenagers.

I loved it, I loved it, I loved it.

Skippy Dies broke a lot of my rules for literature and still allowed me to love it. I can't stand violence to children in what is, essentially, an entertainment. Really graphic, unhealthy sexual activity is another one that bothers me. Drug abuse is too hard for me to relate to and comes across as an author struggling for some sort of street cred. I'm really square and don't like being manipulated. And I can just picture the editor who leans across the desk to whisper to an aspiring 'literary' author that he may be just a rape scene away from a Booker Prize.

But I loved this book even with all of the lines it crosses. It feels relevant and realistic; the bullying, disconnected loss, scrambling for identity - I can see all of my little rules as a hindrance to getting to the heart of all of these damaged and good people.

I may return to this review after a few days. I expect this one to stay with me for a while and I wonder how it'll wear.

Tournament of Books 2011 - still a gloomy affair but considerably improved by Skippy Dies.