I almost stopped reading this book.
I have a 50-page rule when I read something new — every book has 50 pages to get me interested in the story, or I put it aside. Most novels grab me right from the get-go; others take a bit of time to get into the story.
I used to dismiss books after only a few paragraphs or pages, but I decided to make the cut-off point 50 pages after reading We Need To Talk About Kevin, which is perhaps one of my favorite novels ever written. I had wanted to stop reading Kevin after about 10 pages because I just wasn’t hooked, but a friend insisted I press on. Thank goodness she did, because I would have missed out on an extraordinary novel if I had stopped reading after only a few pages.
That was a learning experience. I realized that some books are a slow burn, and that I have to give them a reasonable amount of time to grab me. Thus, the 50-page rule was born.
It took 45 pages for me to be really interested in what the heck was going on in The Immortalists – and, yowza, was a lot going on!
Does the cover of this book scream “gay male sex” to you? Yeah, me neither. But, believe me, that is a lot of what you get in the first few chapters. No judgement – I’m an equal opportunist when it comes to detailed sex scenes – just a warning since nothing about the book description or cover design led me to believe I would be treated to some up-close-and-personal descriptions of male genitalia.
Gay sexcapades aside, this novel really didn’t have enough to keep me interested when I first started reading it. There’s a prologue to set up the story, and I didn’t find it intriguing or mysterious, as I imagine I’m supposed to. I met all the characters, but I wasn’t particularly drawn to any of them. I had heard so much hype about this novel, which is why I picked it up, even though I had initially dismissed it as something I might want to read.
By page 40, I was convinced that my original instincts had been right on target, and I was all set to invoke my 50-page rule on The Immortalists. Chloe Benjamin had only a few more pages to get me to keep reading.
It was down to the wire, but she did it. The tone of the story suddenly twisted, and I found myself wanting more. What followed was an emotional, beautiful, and incredibly thought-provoking tale of one very interesting family.
I really like how the story is told through the different siblings’ points of view. You become heavily attached to each brother or sister as you move through the novel, getting a glimpse into just a certain portion of each of their lives. Each “Part” of the book (there are four) is a new sibling’s story, and I felt a keen sense of loss after each window into that sibling’s life was closed. You still experience all the siblings in the other Parts, but it’s always through another brother or sister’s eyes, so the connection is never quite the same.
I loved the possibility of magic in everyday life that permeates every aspect of the novel. The Immortalists thoroughly explores the power of suggestion over one’s life and decisions, as well as the influence that faith and religion can have over someone. One sister even becomes a magician, and you learn how some common – and some more difficult – magic tricks are performed. Pretty cool.
Everything in this novel forces you to anaylze what you believe and why you believe it. For example, do you believe in magic tricks? Are they careful, precise sleights of hand praticed by skilled performers? Or, is there actually some real magic going on there — can someone really bend the laws of physics or reality? What about seemingly inexplicable events that occur in the world — are they explainable with science, or are they miracles? And, what about fortune-telling? Can some people really see the future? Or, are psychics selling us carefully concocted lies that we subconsciously shape into reality through our belief in them?
The Immortalists ultimately reminded me why I am terrified of ever having my fortune told. I don’t want to know what’s going to happen in my life, either good or bad. If I know it and it’s bad, I’m sure I will try to thwart it, and therefore end up walking smack into it and making it come true. Or, if I know it and it’s good – well, I’d rather just be surprised when I get there, thanks.
I was reminded a lot of Oedipus Rex while reading this novel. No, not because someone decides to kill his father and marry his mother. (Ew.) Because prophecies (or “fortunes”) are tricky things – do they come to pass because they are actual predictions of the future, or because you inadvertently make them come true, often by trying to avoid them?
See good ol’ Oedipus. From what I dimly remember from high school English (sorry, Mrs. N), he was only sent away because his father learned of the prophecy that his son (Oedipus) would one day kill his father and marry his mother. Oed never knew who his real parents were, so when his father was one day presented to him as Some Random King, he killed him and then magnanimously married his widowed queen (aka, his mom).
But, if Oed’s father hadn’t tried to thwart the prophecy, Oed would have grown up knowing his parents and therefore would (probably) not have fulfilled his own prophecy. I mean, he might have still tried to kill his dad (people seemed rather bloodthirsty in ancient times), but I’m pretty darn sure he wouldn’t have married his mother. For any reason. Ew.
Back to The Immortalists. The prophecies that the siblings receive from the fortune teller affect them their whole lives. Some siblings try to ignore their fates, some try to fulfill them, and some try to skirt around them. In the end, you’re left wondering if the siblings’ lives would have turned out the same ways even if they had never met that fortune teller. Did they fulfill their own fortunes? Or, would their lives have taken the same course even if the ideas were never planted in their heads? How much of our lives is governed by ourselves, and how much by fate?
I’m so glad I continued reading this book. It may have been slow to start (for me), but it ended up making a huge impression on me. The hype is well-deserved. Well done, Chloe Benjamin. I look forward to your next novel, whenever and whatever that may be.
Have you read The Immortalists? Were you immediately hooked by the first pages, or were you a bit late to the party, like me? And, who was your favorite sibling? (Simon. <3 Simon.)
Stay tuned for the recipe inspired by The Immortalists – Mock Cioppino with Garlic Toast!
Great review! It took me a little bit to get into this book from the beginning, too, but once the set-up was done I was really invested in it! I was so interested in each of the character’s lives and how differently they carried them out.
Thanks! Glad you stumbled across it. 🙂 I love it when books surprise me with how much I end up liking them. Nice to know you had the same slow burn experience with this one! it was so definitely worth the (little bit of) wait in the beginning.