Just Finished Reading: Surveillance by Jonathan Rabin

Lucy Bengstrom is a free-lance journalist living in post 9/11 Seattle. Struggling to make ends meet and bring up her eleven year old daughter on her own she is delighted to be given the job by GQ magazine of tracking down and interviewing the latest publishing sensation. Boy 381 by August Vanag is an autobiographical heart rending tale of his survival as a young child in Nazi occupied Europe. The book has remained at the top of the Best Sellers list for months and there is talk of the movie rights being sold. But the reclusive Vanag apparently does not give interviews. After Lucy tracks him down to an isolated island off the Seattle coast she finds him to be a charming, off beat eccentric who is more than happy to be interviewed. However, whilst researching background information for the piece, Lucy finds disturbing evidence that Vanag’s autobiographical memories may have been cleverly fabricated. Meanwhile in other parts of her life she worries about her daughter who is slipping away from her as she grows into adulthood, her best friend suspects his HIV has become full blown AIDS and her new Chinese landlord has fallen in love with her. All in all it’s not going to be an easy year for Lucy – and in the background the Government continues to ramp up the tension with terrorist attack drills of increasing scale and realism.

I picked this up simply because of its title. It turned out to be completely different to what I had expected. This book was very well written. I could almost say beautifully written – almost. About two-thirds of the way through I was still thinking to myself “What exactly is this book about?” Thinking about it afterwards I’m not entirely sure that it was “about” anything – yet at the same time it seemed to be about everything. It boiled down into a slice of life in a near-future America obsessed with security and still coming to terms with 9/11. It’s probably the only post 9/11 book I’ve read that explicitly references those events. Part of the book – or maybe the main theme – is an on again off again discussion about the level of security necessary for the US to survive in a more dangerous would and the whole host of fears that brings to the surface. The characters, even the sleazy landlord, are amazingly detailed and real. The author is obviously a talented observer of human behaviour as all of his characters live and breath on every page. This was a sheer delight to read. But be prepared for the ending. It’s certainly not what I expected and to be honest I had some difficulty accepting it. You’ll know what I mean if you’ve read it or try it out on my recommendation. Saying that, this is an excellent book and is probably one of the best I’ve read this year. Highly recommended.