The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

 

I was browsing a Reddit thread about books everyone should read and someone said The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins with a note that if you don't know anything about the book, you should probably go into it without doing any research and you would be blown away.  I had some preconceived notions about the book based on the title, but boy was I wrong.  

It's a weird, weird book.  I don't want to give too much away because I do think people should go in cold, but I think Hawkins does a masterful job of building up a story that is absolutely batshit insane, but nonetheless has an internal logic that made me so happy. Sometimes it takes a long time to see that internal logic, but it pays off if you're a careful reader.  

In general, it starts off kind of slow because Hawkins has to do some serious worldbuilding, but by the middle, it turns into quite a page turner. I am also going to give Hawkins some credit because I never, at any time, knew what was going to happen.  I figured out one small plot point and was inordinately proud of myself, but this book was unpredictable, right down to the ambiguously happy or sad ending.  I don't even know how to classify the ending!

Anyway, I recommend this book. It's some work and the first part is a bit of a slog, but the payoff is definitely worth it.

Notable lines:

"...he slowed to a walk, then unclipped Mrs. McGillicutty's cell phone from the top of his sweatpants and punched number 1 on the speed dial: "Home." Number 2 was someone named Cathy. The third slot was a funeral home. The other five slots were empty. He felt a little bad for Mrs. McGillicutty." (page 152)

"Most of the librarians had a horror of the neighborhood dogs that dated back to childhood. Even Michael tended to keep his distance. But Americans, for some reason, seemed to love the furry little bastards. It was one of their unfathomable quirks." (page 161)

"We keep coming back to him. Who is he?"
"Nobody in particular, so far as I can tell. He's a plumber."
The secretary of state, regal, studied him over the top of her glasses.  "A plumber?"
"Yeah," Erwin said, He spat in the president's trash can. "You know - them guys who make the toilets work?" (page 174)

"She opened it to 'Chapter 11: Notes on the Subjugation of the Martially Superior Foe." She read until late in the night. It was very comforting." (page 261)

"I must send you into exile, that you may be the coal of her heart. No real thing can be so perfect as memory, and she will need a perfect thing if she is to survive. She will warm herself on the memory of you when there is nothing else, and be sustained." (page 356)