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Scootsa1000’s #CBR5 Review 38: The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence

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Unknown-2Everyone seems to love this book. I’ve read nothing but stellar reviews, praising the humor and the writing. And yes, there was a ton of humor and the writing was wonderful. But I didn’t love it. Sorry. I really wanted to.

The story is wonderfully original. In the very first pages, a bald, 17 year old named Alex Woods is detained at customs in Dover in a car with a large bag of marijuana and the ashes of someone called Mr Peterson. A great start, right?

Then we get some backstory: Alex Woods gets hit in the head with an meteorite as a young boy. He’s a bit of a strange boy, and this certainly doesn’t make him any less strange. He develops (and learns to manage) epilepsy, and befriends the doctors and scientists who  he comes in contact with. His mother is a bit of a kook — she owns the local tarot shop and is a bit of a hippy. He doesn’t know who his father is, and has very few other friends. Until he meets elderly Mr Peterson, the surly American in their small English town. Alex and Mr Peterson become friends, bonding over classical music, pacifism, and Kurt Vonnegut. And so the first half of the book passes, fairly pleasantly.

In the second half of the book, the story detours quite a bit. It becomes more about the depths of friendship and standing up for what you think is right, no matter what. How friends can actually be family, if you let them. And I actually found this part of the book a bit more interesting, but I still didn’t love it for some reason.

The characters were beautifully drawn. The depiction of small-town British life was a delight. Details of how Alex was a bit of an odd-ball, yet didn’t seem to mind all that much, were great. Extence is clearly a huge talent. But still, I didn’t really enjoy the book. It became something that I would put down and then look at and say “ugh, I really need to finish that”. Not a great sign.

A bit of a spoiler here:

Maybe my issues with the book are personal. My father had Parkinsons and suffered for many years — and Parkinsons is not unlike the disease that afflicts Mr Peterson. By the end, my father could no longer communicate at all, and for a man who made his living talking, this was unbearable for everyone around him to see. I can’t even imagine how horrendous it was for him. Maybe the book was just too close for comfort for me.

End of little spoiler.

While I didn’t love the story, I do think Extence is quite a gifted writer, and I will keep an eye out for his future works.

I wanted to give it 5 stars, but I’ll only give it 3.

 You can read more of my reviews on my blog.

ElCicco #CBR5 Review #27: The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence

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Gavin Extence has written a superb young adult novel dealing with some rather mature themes: secular humanism, Kurt Vonnegut, growing cannabis, and death/end of life decisions. I think this may turn out to be my favorite novel of the summer.

Alex Woods, our narrator, is 17 when we start and all of the action of the story has happened. Alex is returning to England from Continental Europe with the ashes of his neighbor Isaac Peterson and a glove compartment full of marijuana. Alex is detained at customs and brought in for questioning. From this point, Alex tells the amazing story of his life and his friendship with the reclusive Mr. Peterson.

Alex is already famous by the time we are introduced. At the age of 10, he survived being hit by a meteorite, was in a coma for several weeks and then developed epilepsy, which caused him to miss school for most of a year. He is the only child of a single mother who runs her own shop and reads tarot cards for clients. Alex is drawn to math and sciences, particularly astrophysics and neurology.  Unfortunately, bullies are drawn to Alex for these same reasons. Alex’s path and Mr. Peterson’s cross as a result of a bullying incident. Peterson is an American veteran of the Vietnam War who writes a lot of letters for Amnesty International and whose favorite author is Kurt Vonnegut. Over time, a strange but beautiful friendship develops between the two. Alex matures, learns to manage his epilepsy, and actively pursues his interests as well as action that seems right to him. I found him to be a thoroughly interesting and admirable character, although I suspect that those who are more politically conservative might find him to be immoral or, at the very least, misguided.

An overarching theme is about us and the universe — is there a God? Where do we fit in? Can we know the universe? I like that the title is The Universe Versus Alex Woods and not the other way around — that it’s not Alex who is trying to mess with the universe, but rather the universe seems to have taken on Alex. Throwing a meteorite at his head is only one example. He and his mother have no idea who his father is; he is a target for bullies; he has epilepsy. Yet for the most part, Alex faces it all in a calm, rational way. The one exception, when he calls a bully an especially offensive word in front of the headmaster, makes him feel powerful in the short run but is regretted in the long run. Alex is patient and a planner, and this serves him well (although it makes him seem odd and is sometimes frustrating to those close to him).

I think what I find most impressive about the novel is that while I don’t necessarily subscribe to the same view of life and the universe as Alex, I understand why he thinks as he does. I can’t help but like him. Gavin Extence does a marvelous job of presenting Alex’s point of view in a reasonable and convincing manner. The writing is humorous and intelligent, and would appeal to the high school crowd. Mature themes and some crude language might make it inappropriate for those younger.