The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
“You know, there’s that silly saying ‘We’re born alone and we die alone’ – it’s nonsense. We’re surrounded at birth and surrounded at death. It is in between that we’re alone.”
Synopsis:
In an international newspaper headquarters based in Rome, the lives of its employees criss and cross and yet, they all seem to live in their own little worlds. Just like flipping through a newspaper and reading a new story on each page, readers will get a glimpse into one of these private lives with each new chapter. Some of these stories include those of Arthur, the ever-slacking Puzzle Wuzzle writer; Kathleen, the maneating chief editor; Winston, the new Cairo correspondent in over his head; and Ruby, one of the many disgruntled and on-the-edge editors. Their lives intersect each other in strange ways and the paper trudges on behind it all.
Rating: 9/10
Read If You Liked: any novel that switches perspectives every chapter or so
My Thoughts:
I recently received this book as a required reading assignment for one of my classes. You know how required reading can be, so I was genuinely surprised by how much I loved it. It’s definitely not the cut and dry political newspaper novel that the summary on the back of the book makes it out to be.
The history of the newspaper itself – through its conception, hay day, and eventual decline – runs throughout the background of the story. This is told through short, journal entry-like passages after each chapter. The main focus though, is the stories of those affiliated with the paper and how it affects their lives. Each chapter features a new employee and once their chapter ends, so does their story. This particular aspect of the book is a little disappointing, because there were some stories that I would’ve liked to see revisited. That’s more of a matter of taste though, as some people (like me) prefer stories to be tied up at the end with a nice little bow, while others like an open ending. Some chapters of this book absolutely floored me, like I actually had to put down the book a couple times to recover from it. Others however, seemed pale and pointless in comparison to their stronger counterparts. Certain chapters just seemed completely unnecessary to me or like they would’ve been more effective in a different place in the book.
Overall though, this book was well-written, tackled the task of multiple narrators perfectly, and was entirely engrossing. It appeals to a wide range of readers too, which is rare. It’s good for people interested in journalism and newspapers, for people aspiring to write from multiple perspectives, and for people who long to know the mysteries of the everyday lives of those around them. I’ve recommended this book to everyone and so, even if it still doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, you should definitely give it a chance. I promise you won’t be disappointed and if you are, you can place all the blame on me!
