Why I Love Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt (Spoilers!)
by Muhammad Raza
Okay for Now, written by Gary D. Schmidt in 2011, is a seemingly ordinary book on the surface; it details the troubles of a teenager with an alcoholic father, and a family who has just moved to a small town in New York. Despite this apparent unexciting premise, this was probably the first book that I really enjoyed reading, and very few other books that I’ve read have spurred in me the same emotions that this book has. Even when I re-read the book, I still can’t help but tear up and smile while going through this emotional roller-coaster. Now, after considering it for some time, I believe that there is one aspect of this book that sets it apart from others, and that keeps me coming back to it: the pure, raw writing style and emotion.
When Doug is bullied by his brother, father, and gym teacher throughout the book, you never feel like he deserves it or that his surly personality is the reason why he is being beaten. You always feel bad for him and know that despite him trying his best to hide his emotions, you know that he is hurting deeply inside. When Doug accidentally upsets his best friend, Lillian, you also feel lonely and miserable, as if you have lost a friend. When Doug’s crippled brother comes back from Vietnam, you can’t help but nearly cry after reading his mother and father’s contrasting reactions while the crowd curses and spits on him. You can’t help but cheer on every small win Doug gets because they are so far apart and infrequent. The empathy for the main character that one feels from reading this book is somewhat unexpected because Doug is portrayed as always trying to hide his emotions, but the way this book is written makes you inevitably feel what he feels. Schmidt doesn’t try to embellish the details of Doug’s unremarkable and depressing life with complex wording, instead choosing to use raw, candid, and simple language so that the reader knows exactly how he is feeling. Furthermore, there are small bits and scenes in this book when Doug finally reveals his emotions and experiences, which have you rooting for him. The raw emotion that his book conveys is unmatched by many pieces of popular and “classical” literature, but in my opinion, it is one of the things that can make a novel spell-binding. The understanding and compassion I developed for Doug while reading, despite him being far from perfect, is why I keep coming back to his book and why I believe that you should also try it too (especially if you have never read a book that you have never connected with).
No comments:
Post a Comment