Book Review: The Boy Who Drew Monsters by Keith Donohue - Entrepreneur Generations

Our school's 'One City, One Book' program is in its 11th year (see link with all previous ten books described here), and this year's text is The Boy Who Drew Monsters by Keith Donohue. 

I read the book over spring break, in preparation for the event with the author at our school on April 14. My expectation for the novel -- about a 10-year old boy whose drawings come to life and haunt his family -- was that it was going to be a fun, slick horror read. These expectations, however, were too low, for The Boy Who Drew Monsters is a complex literary work, often beautifully written, with layers of symbolism and foreshadowing that intrigued me throughout. And while I can't say that it scared me, Donohue's portrayal of a desolate Maine coast in the middle of a Christmas-time blizzard sets the events against a bleakly beautiful backdrop, making me shiver through much of my read and making me anticipate dread coming with every new section. 

Donohue shifts his book between a 3rd person limited narration focuses alternatingly on four characters -- the title character, Jack Peter, who has Asberger's as well as agoraphobia; his two parents, Holly and Tim; and his only friend, Nick. This keeps the narrative moving quickly, as we circle around the events of the plot through the prison of these different characters, sometimes flashing backward or forward in time a few hours with each successive shift. Interrupting the main thrust of the story are effective subplots, particularly when Donohue focuses on Holly as she seeks spiritual answers in the Catholic church, and flashbacks, such as that moment, three years ago, when the title character nearly drowned. It's a page-turner, and leads to a gratifying and twisty conclusion; as I was reading the last pages, I couldn't believe Donohue was going to wrap up the book satisfying in the amount of space he had left, but he certainly did. 

The Boy Who Drew Monsters is an eerie and atmospheric read, and I loved the characterization in the novel, particularly of Holly and Nick. Both characters are seeking answers, even questing, and their search for answers in this frigid landscape makes us really root for them. And even if their seeking takes us down some rabbit holes -- Japanese spirits, ghosts from a shipwreck, grieving and alcoholic parents -- that don't quite come together and add much to the main thrust of the story (only its atmosphere), I still was intrigued by these aspects of the novel.

I'd be very interested to speak with someone with Autism or a parent of someone with Asberger's about the portrayal of Jack Peter. His character remains opaque through the text, probably necessarily,  but the struggles of the parents seem very authentic. I also was moved by Nick's relationship with Jack Peter; his frustrations with him never erupted into outbursts about his Asberger's, only about what kind of a friend he was being.

The first time I recognized how much I liked Donohue's style is early in the novel, and I bookmarked this passage, focusing on Holly:
"The old house creaked and shuddered in the wintertime, and every stray thud was made louder and more ominous in the emptiness of the season. Perhaps the wind had blown over the trash cans. It's nothing, she told herself, and just as she slid back into the comfort of the water, another knock disquieted her. She pulled the plug from the drain and stood, dripping onto the bath rug, wrapped a thick towel around her torso, and swung open the bathroom door. Her feet left wet prints on the hallway floor."
In retyping it here, I realize some of Donohue's planning; footprints become an important motif in the novel: icy and muddy footprints in the house, footsteps on the roof, footprints in the snow outside.

Later, I was struck by how well Donohue sets up one of the final images of the book, involving a red and blue shirt, by foreshadowing it with a police siren much earlier in the novel. 

Beyond some of the cool literary features that I thought made this a neat read, though, there's plenty spooky here, as well, as in this passage focusing on Nick:

"Sleep," he told himself. "Just go to sleep."

But he could not sleep. The man on the road filled his thoughts.... Uncurling like a fern, the man had risen from the ground and stood half hunched in anticipation. In the pale moonlight, his bare skin shone white; he moved with a wild animal's hesitancy and sudden alarm. A deer caught by surprise, here and then gone, disappearing into the night. He wondered where the man had run off, for to the east lay bare rock  tumbling down to the endless sea."

All in all, The Boy Who Drew Monsters is a great choice for teens and adults alike, a book with enough literary merit, intrigue, and thrills for almost any reader. I'm excited for April 14!

from Epiphany in Baltimore http://ift.tt/1X9N9r5 Book Review: The Boy Who Drew Monsters by Keith Donohue - Entrepreneur Generations

Posted by Entrepreneur Generations

Tweet