A Review of Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre

First of all, this a post waaaaaay past due in writing. I have finished this book three full weeks ago, according to my shelfari account. After that very subtle account promotion, let me start by saying it out right before beginning the review that I really enjoyed this book. Am I ashamed of that? a bit, but not enough to not write this review, as it seems.

Here is a check list of things in this book that might be a deal breaker for some:

1. fifteen year old kid involved in school shooting
2. fifteen year old kid swearing
3. fifteen year old kid judging people based on imagining how their underwear looks
4. fifteen year old who may or may have not been photographed by his teacher for a gay porn website
5. fifteen year old who may or may have not been pimping out another fifteen year old
6. fifteen year old who may or may have not been abused by an eighteen year old

all those people are indeed very nasty

Not all these fifteen year olds are the same person. Also, I only picked up this book because I needed a V for my A-Z book challenge and I had no idea what it was about. I didn't even read the blurb. I just figured if it was good enough to win The Man Booker prize, it was good enough for me.

The book's self-sabotaging protagonist is called Vernon Gregory Little. His friend Jesus (pronounced Hay-zoos, as in Spanish) shoots his entire class in a homicide/suicide fiasco that left his teacher in a comma.And because Vernon decided to take a trip to the restroom, he is suspected as an accomplice in the whole crime.

The story in itself is very straight forward, and the writing is both simple and witty. However, the book does have a lot of things that can be interpreted in many different ways and contains lots of euphemisms. Personally, I'm not usually one for that style of writing but it somehow works for this story.

Also, I loved how at the end of a major event, Vernon would go through what happened in his head then describe himself in words he thinks befit the situation, i.e. Vernon Gone Little, Vernon Getaway Little, ...etc.

Vernon thinks of himself as a sort of God-like figure, as evident by the title. He believes his actions are directly related to everyone else's lives. He also believe that no one has that effect on his life. He goes into elaborate thoughts, or schemes, to get himself from one situation and into another. It doesn't always work out as planned though, which leaves him in a poor state of mind.

The story is both plot and character driven. One one hand we have a 'series of unfortunate events' that set the story in motion, and on the other, all the plot twists and turns are character driven. The book has a very nice balance to it.

As for the characters, some go through some serious character development, namely Vernon and his mother. Others are shown to be growing to others while from the reader's point of view they are portrayed stuck in a constant state, Lally, Ella, and Pam.

There were some constant elements in the story concerning Vernon's mother and her friends, such as everyone always having junk food as the live in the BBQ capitol of Texas,  everyone always trying to start a diet, and everyone always upgrading to better home appliances.
I quite like the dynamic between Vernon and his mother's friends. It is not very gilmore girls-y, and yet it is friendly and somehow maternal in  Pam's case.

Spoiler alert, Vernon does end up spending some time in jail as he escaped to Mexico in an effort to avoid being questioned for Jesus's crimes. In that time he spends in jail the reader experiences one of the best character developments in any book ever. Not in a cheesy Arrested Development sense, but something more believable ad easier to grasp.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this unusual book and would recommend it to people who aren't very sensitive towards the overtly violent and sexual themes that go inside the mind of a 15 year old weirdo.

final rating: 4/5 (mainly for the writing and not the plot
currently reading: The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde