Reviewed by Lianne on
Simply put, this book is pretty mad. Actions with simple intentions resulting in extreme action, paranoid reactions, and a whole lot of spies roaming around, shuffling poor Jens from one place to another. Felt rather bad for Jens, he seems like a quiet, normal dude and yet he sticks out like a sore thumb in Broomsville with his good intentions, which lends to the amusement factor. It's also funny (in a rather ironic manner) how a man like him gets dragged into such an international mess because of a single decision (that he took a page of wrecking his brain with deciding).
The small town of Broomsville serves as an interesting choice for much of the craziness to play out. There's of course that small-town closeness present, which highlights Jens' foreignness/otherness. It takes a while to understand how all of the characters are connected and how they relate to the story, but suffice to say they are all connected to the drama somehow. On the one hand there's a lot on in terms of paranoia, conspiracies, real-time situations and politics, and just all-around "Do you really know the people around you?", but on the other hand it's quite a romp and study of relationships and identities. I found it interesting whenever Jens/Henry found himself thinking about things that Jens would do compared to what Henry would do.
Overall The Happiest People in the World was an interesting read. It was amusing at times with the tongue-in-cheek, satirical moments, but given my strange sense of humour it wasn't laugh-out-loud for me or anything. It's pretty mad though, the title equally tongue-in-cheek (spoilers: no one's really happy in this novel) and the circumstances that the characters find themselves in are pretty crazy. This is the first novel I've read by this author and it was a pretty great introduction. Fans of this author will want to check this book out, I think.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 3 November, 2014: Finished reading
- 3 November, 2014: Reviewed