A Celebration of Books
The book opens with a quote from media critic Walter Benjamin suggesting that all books have a destiny but is dependent upon the reader to reach that fate. The book itself narrates part of the story. Much of the story takes place inside a library and one particular book is the driving force behind a life change for one of the main characters. Throughout the narrative books are placed front and center and charged with having a significance in the lives of readers that extends well beyond mere entertainment. The very fact that the book itself is a sentient being capable of not just telling the story of the characters but pontificating upon the value of itself is suggestive of the thematic quality of celebrating books as keepers of knowledge and tellers of the story of all mankind.
The Effects of Grief
The father of the protagonist, Benny, dies when his son is young. This loss seems to have a stultifying effect upon the boy in which he almost stops maturing and growing as a consequence of his overwhelming grief. He also begins hearing voices emanating from inanimate objects that are close by. He began hearing the voice, however, as that of his father when in close proximity to his ashes. The expansion of the voice into other objects coincides with his mother’s own way of dealing with grief at the loss of her husband. She begins hoarding and soon Benny is living within an overwhelming amount of clutter. Thus the voices Benny hears from the objects his mother hoards are symbolic projections of the loss of the most important person in their lives.
Imagination and Mental Illness
Benny hears voices coming from objects. An object—the book—is given the unusual ability to narrate the story being told. While in the public library Benny begins to sing along with the voice he hears coming from the book but to a security guard this act appears to be little more than a mentally unstable person conversing with himself. Nor for the first time is Benny admitted to a psychiatric ward because of his interactions with the speaking objects around him. The book itself is situated as having a voice with whom every reader is engaged in a conversation and which is capable of manipulating their emotions. Thus, to a point each readers is behaving somewhat like Benny. The exploration of this theme suggests that there is only a blurry distinction between imaginative thought and mental illness.
