The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence

I was expecting big things from this book as it had been hyped up as a book to look out for in 2013. Alas I was disappointed.

At times the book read more like a non-fiction book than a novel. If I wanted to find out about meteors and meteorites I would have bought an astrology book and if I wanted to know the road layout of Zurich I would have bought a map. The theory of everything and chaos theory also got mentions in sections I glossed over. But the reason for all the detail into various topics is explained in chapter 10 where Alex, in discovering Kurt Vonnegut books (of which many of the plots are detailed in here), talks about Vonnegut's writing and how he explained everything in detail. I am sure that didn't mean slipping in boring bits about non-fiction topics.

So having started the book I was waiting for the good bits to come, and the further I got in the more I felt this must have been the ending as I was still waiting.

At first I thought the layout was that each chapter was part of the universe against Alex Woods. So in chapter 1 it was the police vs Alex Woods, then it was a meteor, then things like Epilepsy vs Alex Woods and School Bullies vs Alex Woods.

At all times it is hard to feel much for Alex. His character comes across as if he is a little Autistic. He takes everything literally (in the book he is called logical) and doesn't seem to feel emotion. He even thinks he knows better than doctors and argues it out with one pointing out that a diagnosis he made is clearly wrong. It was hard for me to feel for him, and he was main character of the book.

A character I could feel for was Mr Peterson, who we eventually meet in chapter 8. He is a US war veteran and now a retired widower. He had a no-nonsense approach and wasn't afraid to mince his words. He reminded me of the dad from **** My Dad Says. Unfortunately Mr Peterson doesn't stay like this. He loses some of his fight later on in the novel as he becomes ill, leading to him trying to commit suicide.

After Mr Peterson tries this for the first time Alex Woods resolves to help him live out his remaining independent years before his debilitating illness takes hold to the point where he is suffering. At that point Alex would help him go to a clinic in Switzerland, thus the get out option would be available only when absolutely necessary.

This is the real crux of the novel but given the preamble it is only the last fifth of the novel where it is finally covered.

There are some good touches along the way though. The meteor that hit Alex is described in great detail as now being in the Natural History Museum, in the vault, 100m from the dinosaurs. This led me on a short lunchtime trip to the museum to try and find it. I couldn't on such a short trip, but this sort of thing can bring life to a novel outside the pages of the book.

Also there was a good high-speed wheelchair chase, a good scene on a school bus, and a good farewell speech by Mr. Peterson as part of the book club Alex sets up. The speech was good because it had a double meaning where it was relevant to the book club, but also about himself.

And then the last few pages, particularly covering the death (and Kurt Vonnegut is used again), are good too.

Covering such an emotive topic will sell the book no matter what, and next time I'll remember not to raise my expectations.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed here.)