An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

 

In May, we all gathered to discuss An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. In the novel, dozens of ten-foot Transformer-like statues wearing samurai armor appear in cities across the world. The main character, April May who is a 23-year-old designer in New York City, discovers the first one (which she names Carl) and posts a video to YouTube with the help of her friend Andy. The video goes viral and thus begins an adventure that is part sci-fi, part puzzle, and a whole lot of public publicity, branding, and rhetoric in a millennial style pitting two views against each another: should the world trust or fear the source of these unknown statues.

The book was generally well-received. It was easy-to-read and light-hearted although the themes it addressed such as persuasion, personal impacts of social media and wealth, ethics when standing for a cause (to name just a few), were absolutely relevant to modern times. Interestingly, most did not identify or even like the main character, but it was agreed that this did not detract from enjoying the book. We had similar impressions of the other characters. For example, we all liked April May's ex-girlfriend Maya, her assistant Robin, and her parents. We also all agreed that her friend Andy was kind of a bland character who served a purpose, like an NPC. 

The creativity of the author was admirable and we collectively recalled a few select scenes that caught our attention and made us think, "Ok, this is kinda crazy, but I'm along for the ride."

We discussed other details such as the benefit of solving problems collectively, the relationship between Hank Green and the author John Green (they're brothers!), and the book sequel.

We also caught up on everyone's personal lives including careers, families, siblings, and summer plans. We're looking forward to seeing each other again very soon (almost all in person) at a big birthday celebration where one of us will be turning ... ? Maybe 21? Don't pay attention to the fact that bookclub itself is almost 21. The math ain't mathing, but so what.