What the book is about

It’s about a book store owner who lost his wife and then lost one valuable item from his store, but he has found something else instead. It’s also about a few other people in his life.

What I liked about the story

Reading list

Claudia McGill found the list of books mentioned in The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. Thank you for the link Claudia! Just look at this list! A whole library has fit into the book!

When a new character was introduced

I won’t say who it was so as not to spoil it for you, but I found it very unexpected and almost surreal. That’s when I resolved to keep reading the book. I also found the character very charming.

The actual story

It’s pleasant, kind and peaceful but it doesn’t get overly simplistic. It is light, but not silly.

Of course, people had felt sorry for him then, but they had felt too sorry for him.

They held their breath as they walked past the store, like it was a cemetery.

…a theft is an acceptable social loss while a death is an isolating one.

It’s very bookish

It’s a book about books, and about people who live books and breathe books. It feels like the book bloggers and reviewers are actually the target audience of the story.

They had only ever discussed books but what, in this life, is more personal than books?

Infinite Jest is an endurance contest. You manage to get through it and you have no choice but to say you like it.

Who are these people who think a book comes with a guarantee that they will like it?

The protagonist is a long distance runner

Just like yours truly. This detail doesn’t get too much focus but it’s always nice to relate to something in a book, isn’t it?

There are many challenges to long-distance running, but one of the greatest is the question of where to put one’s house keys.

What I found strange about the book

The writing

It feels very distant, as if someone is reciting contents of newspaper clippings. It is especially noticeable when something dramatic or tragic happens.

The shifting point of view

There is no stable point of view. Sometimes you get a bit of a story from one character, then you get another story from someone else. It’s always unpredictable and feels quite chaotic.

Redundant subplots and characters

There are a few characters who seem to be survivors from the first draft. It looks like their roles had got redundant but by the time it became obvious, they turned into close friends and family members, and so it was unethical to get rid of them for the sake of a more structured plot.

Would I recommend this book?

Yes, definitely. If you are looking for a quick and light read that will lead you to more books, you will likely enjoy this book.

I found this book on my quest for more books by male authors. I’ve noticed that female authors prevailed in my recent reading list and I wanted to balance this out. Checking Out also promised to be lighthearted and fun while at the same time focusing on a deeper theme of a terminally ill person who’s readjusting his perspective due to the diagnosis.

In reality it was the silliest book I could possibly stand. Slightly sillier than that and I wouldn’t have been able to read it at all. In fact, had this book happened at a different time I would have deleted it straight away. This time though it functioned as a sitcom some people watch when they want to de-stress and distract themselves.

The book is a very quick read. It took me just several hours to finish it. My eyes easily hopped along the lines, unhindered. The writing is all right.

The characters are comfortably predictable silly dummies. They behave as if they had been given a storyline to follow but weren’t shown how to, so they improvise the best they can but fail. Everything about them feels overplayed and artificial.

There’s lots of humor in this book, but it is all quite shallow, the cake-in-clowns-face type of humor. Also, I had a feeling the jokes would be better in a movie but didn’t work as a text. The same way Charlie Chaplin wouldn’t work as a text.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnlyIIMrZuk&w=560&h=315]

The plot is absolutely transparent, although the protagonist is in denial about it, which becomes obvious when he starts talking to the reader:

“Surprised?”, he says

Nope.

“I bet you were expecting a different ending to this story, weren’t you?”

I wasn’t.

“My life […] is not predictable”

Yes, it is.

“Not in the slightest.”

It is! Sorry mate but you are a character in a very predictable book, so you are predictable like an alphabet. But hey, the world needs that sort of characters too. Everybody needs to unwind sometimes and that’s when you come along.

I can’t give more than two stars to Checking Out even though it served its purpose. If you are looking for a super light reading this might be the book for you.