You can pretty much guarantee that when you read a book published by Small Beer Press, you will be reading something different. Three Portland roommates, soon to be evicted due to a neighbors water damage, attempt to discard their couch at the local Goodwill. Only the thrift stores won’t take it. And, mo re interestingly, the couch will only let them take it certain directions. So begins Tree, Erik and Thom’s quest.
The book appears to be about belief. Screw that wishy-washy stuff. Parzybok released his book into the wild and now it’s meaning is mine! The book is about belief. A celebration of the mystery of life, the unknowable, and choosing your life path based on that unknown. In other words, pretty much the opposite of me. I’m the skeptic. I’m not against taking the word of people smarter than I, but those people better have a pretty good track record.
N.P.R. plays a feature they call This I Believe
. Most of the essays rehash various proverbs (do unto other…, etc.). But one stuck out for me, by Holly Dunsworth, that played earlier this year. Her essay about evolution dispenses with faith, trust, effort, strength and hope. It’s about facts. That’s pretty much my take on things. If something is real, it’ll be real when you measure it with a ruler or test it experimentally. We certainly don’t know everything. But the things we don’t know will also follow the rule of science when we learn them. They will be testable and falsifiable. Facts.
By no means is the world merely facts. Personal relationships aren’t facts. But neither are they belief, not of the religious sort that is. Of the three characters in Couch, most of the ink is spent following Thom’s point of view. He is a rationalist like me, and also somewhat like me tends to hide away from people in the distance of the online world. But he’s also somewhat open-minded. So when the couch only wants to go certain directions, he follows. Skeptically. But he goes. Tree is the dreamer of the group, and apt to get sucked in to just about anything. Erik is a wheeler-dealer. A flirt. A scammer. He doesn’t agree with the supernatural explanation, nor does he disagree. He objects, but mostly because the couch impinges on his self-interest. When carrying the couch coincides with what’s good for Erik, he’s happy to have it. He also drops things unfinished when he no longer sees their utility.
Though seen mostly from Thom’s view, Erik and Tree are fully fleshed out characters. I particularly enjoyed Tree’s consistent panicked reactions. Supposedly the one who believes most in their quest, if anything startles him he makes snap decisions that get his roommate rolling their eyes. Or would, if the decisions weren’t so absurd and problematic. Like deciding to dump the couch into the Columbia even though Thom and Erik have subdued a pair of couch-robbers.
It’s their vision quest. Take the couch to it’s destination. Opposed to them are a set of collectors who desperately want the couch. Helping them is the council. Both shadowy organizations will do anything for their goals. Buy. Steal. Kill. The couch itself seems to matter little. Just that it has magical qualities that others want. Pretty much any other MacGuffin, except for it’s size and properties do let it play a little more active role than a Maltese Falcon. Unlike the One Ring, it can’t be tied on a string and tucked under a shirt. A couch is a large pain in the ass to move. Though in the story, the bulk of the carrying occurs early and late in the story. The rest of the time the roommates are chasing those who have stolen it, or they look for it when it’s been lost or taken, or on occasion someone will transport it for them, by boat or car or whatnot.
Can they put aside their rationality to carry the couch to it’s destination? Cause nothing rational says couches have minds of their own. And it’s certainly not rational to have secret organizations lined up for and against a couch. As Erik notes at one point It’s just a couch!
Despite my disagreement with the belief premise, that aspect didn’t bother me. I was a little annoyed that so many bit characters popped in and then left the building. In many cases, they should have come back and it took away to not have them. The helping council, for instance. There’s a pretty big to-do about them, but they make no appearance in the last part of the book. The boys get other help though. And a few other small issues, but nothing worth writing about.
A strong debut novel, and worth reading. Bring an appreciation for the absurd, cause you’ll need it.
Other blogged reviews:
Title: Couch
Author: Benjamin Parzybok
Cover creator: Andi Watson
Imprint / publisher: Small Beer Press
Format: Paperback
Length: 280 p.
Publication date: October 2008
ISBN-10: 1-931520-54-2
ISBN-13: 978-1-931520-54-6
Subject: Roomates — Oregon — Portland — Fiction
Subject: Sofas — Fiction
Subject: Voyages and travels — Fiction
Subject: Self-actualization (Psychology) — Fiction
LC classification: PS3616.A788 C68 2008
[...] Rat’s Reading – a very cool seeming book review site, said: “A strong debut novel, and worth reading. Bring an appreciation for the absurd, cause you’ll need it.” [...]