“Humanity’s common goal is to die with dignity and dignified in that context is defined as dying in our own beds, but what if you have a waterbed or Spider-Man bedsheets? What’s dignified about that?”
In some ways Steve Tolz’s second novel is very much like his first, A Fraction of a Whole, in that one unusual Australian writes about another, amassing endless detail about an eccentric character. But this book goes even deeper into the mysteries of existence and is an even richer read.
“I don’t know anything other than that the greatest misconception about the apocalypse is that it is a sudden, brief event. It is not. It is slow. Grindingly slow. It goes for generations.
I can’t quite put my finger on it, Lord, can I borrow Yours? The log-sized one from the Sistine Chapel? Am I insane? Has the pain rewired my brain? Human endurance is absurd. It can take ANYTHING. You know this. Can’t there please be a point where once a person has reached a maximum of suffering they just explode?”
Like Kurt Vonnegut, Tolz is endlessly witty and compassionate. He observes the human condition with philosophical insight and warm humour. The plot is fairly convoluted, but at its heart it sees narrator and cop Liam Wilder building a complex, multi-faceted written portrait of Aldo Benjamin – a disaster-prone paralysed visionary who happens to be his best friend. Liam documents Aldo’s steady decline through endless misfortunes including spells in hospital and prison. He does this with compassion and the blackest humour possible. The book takes you to some disturbing places indeed, but the dazzling use of language is such that you are transfixed as seemingly absurd characters become more and more real before your eyes.
It’s very funny and very sad – certainly a book to read more than once.
It’s also full of remarkable aphorisms, wordplay and clever quips. The book repeatedly quotes from Liam and Aldo’s art teacher, Mr. Morrell, a recurring character in the novel whose book on art is filled with astonishing, pithy truths about the nature of art, reality and existence. You find yourself wanting to read that book too.
