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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
What an odd little book. That may not sound like a compliment, but I mean it in the best way. I thought Heaven Is Small was going to be lighter than it was, but I was pleasantly surprised by its originality and wit. While I didn't find the writing especially superb, the concept made up for it: Gordon Small is dead, and his heaven is working as a proofreader for a romance publisher where no one really seems to know they're living the afterlife.
How Schultz came up with the idea that heaven should be the worst kind of corporate America I'm not sure. At first I thought this was sad, that the afterlife we tend to picture as divine end up being a factory that churns out ridiculous stories of unrealistic "love". But then I let go of all that shit and remembered I'm an agnostic who believes there is no possible way of knowing what the afterlife has in store for us. Why couldn't it be just as manufactured and controlled as Schultz depicts?
The last half of the book is a fast read as Gordon starts to fuck with Heaven's system through his attempts to make everyone aware of their death. He also reaches out to the land of the living by replacing a romance novel's text with his own. His actions transform Heaven Is Small into a compelling mystery that had me ploughing through the book at full steam. I'd recommend reading this as a respite after a particularly heavy book, but that's not to say it's fluff, either. This book kind of laughs in the faces of life and death at the same time, showing us that our notions of both can be truly absurd.
How Schultz came up with the idea that heaven should be the worst kind of corporate America I'm not sure. At first I thought this was sad, that the afterlife we tend to picture as divine end up being a factory that churns out ridiculous stories of unrealistic "love". But then I let go of all that shit and remembered I'm an agnostic who believes there is no possible way of knowing what the afterlife has in store for us. Why couldn't it be just as manufactured and controlled as Schultz depicts?
The last half of the book is a fast read as Gordon starts to fuck with Heaven's system through his attempts to make everyone aware of their death. He also reaches out to the land of the living by replacing a romance novel's text with his own. His actions transform Heaven Is Small into a compelling mystery that had me ploughing through the book at full steam. I'd recommend reading this as a respite after a particularly heavy book, but that's not to say it's fluff, either. This book kind of laughs in the faces of life and death at the same time, showing us that our notions of both can be truly absurd.
http://kirbc.com/2010/06/01/heaven-is-small-by-emily-schultz/
Schultz is truly a poet. She has a beautiful command of language and creates unique paintings of description. That being said, I was absorbed in her words, not always her world, and I as a reader love reading for the worlds author's build. I followed Small, G.'s journey, I could see Heaven as he wandered through it, but I didn't reach my "do not disturb my reading on pain of death" mode. The one moment where I couldn't put the novel down was Gordon's writing and the chapter that followed. I did love the uniqueness of the story, the questions about life, afterlife and the meaning within both that were provoked in me, and the quirkiness of the supporting characters. I feel that this is the journey of a poet, and unfortunately I am not a poet.
I loved the first paragraph of this book: "Moments after his death, an event he had failed to notice, Gordon Small sought new employment". That just grabbed my attention and the rest of the book did not disappoint.
Gordon gets a job as proofreader at Heaven Book Company, proofreading a variety of romance novels. Heaven is the largest publisher of romance novels in the world, and has every type of genre possible. Free copies of the published works are available for the employee's to take and read.
But Gordon starts to realize that he might actually be dead, and stuck in a kind of limbo at Heaven Book Company. He starts to question other staff, and decides to embark on a project to make contact with his ex-wife, Chloe Gold, whom he has never stopped loving.
What effect will his actions have on Heaven? Will he be able to make contact with Chloe? And what will happen if he does?
The writing is wonderful, the premise unique and inspiring, and the book a winner.
Gordon gets a job as proofreader at Heaven Book Company, proofreading a variety of romance novels. Heaven is the largest publisher of romance novels in the world, and has every type of genre possible. Free copies of the published works are available for the employee's to take and read.
But Gordon starts to realize that he might actually be dead, and stuck in a kind of limbo at Heaven Book Company. He starts to question other staff, and decides to embark on a project to make contact with his ex-wife, Chloe Gold, whom he has never stopped loving.
What effect will his actions have on Heaven? Will he be able to make contact with Chloe? And what will happen if he does?
The writing is wonderful, the premise unique and inspiring, and the book a winner.
Gordon Small is dead. We think. He's not sure, as he's too busy prepping for a mysterious job interview with the Heaven Book Company. Gordon is quickly hired to proofread cheap and plentiful romance novels; terrible books written in prose so purple the "ardour of the reading material left a taste in his mouth like old coffee." The specifics of his position are vague, but then, so is the entire enterprise; no one seems to actually go home at night (resulting in a very creepy scene in a parking garage), Gordon can't remember the last time he went to the washroom, and pizza deliverymen are always nearby yet cannot seem to find the entranceway into the building.
Schultz (whose novel [b:Joyland|1134600|Joyland|Emily Schultz|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181266825s/1134600.jpg|1121833] is a real treat, seek it out) definitely enjoys traipsing about her central conceit, portraying the afterlife as not much different than life on this plane, full of office drones, unrequited sexual urges, and monotony. It wouldn't be fair to reveal every surprise the Canadian author lays for Gordon, but his dismay at his new digs quickly leads to a smartly realized scheme whereby his otherwise clueless fellow employees of Heaven "would realize that they deserved lives beyond what occurred at their desks."
Read the rest of the review here.
Schultz (whose novel [b:Joyland|1134600|Joyland|Emily Schultz|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181266825s/1134600.jpg|1121833] is a real treat, seek it out) definitely enjoys traipsing about her central conceit, portraying the afterlife as not much different than life on this plane, full of office drones, unrequited sexual urges, and monotony. It wouldn't be fair to reveal every surprise the Canadian author lays for Gordon, but his dismay at his new digs quickly leads to a smartly realized scheme whereby his otherwise clueless fellow employees of Heaven "would realize that they deserved lives beyond what occurred at their desks."
Read the rest of the review here.