Review: Yearning for Perfection Can Create a Horror
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 12, 2011
The world is falling apart. The economy is in the tank, people are losing jobs, civil society is starting to break down, and people are disappearing. But there is a glimmer of hope - letters and postcards from "The Disappeared"; succinct and to the point, they have found paradise.Shan Won, a small island near China, doesn't need money. They don't have disease. They are engaged in no wars. There is no hunger. But there is also proof other than the short notes from The Disappeared who make it to the island. Until a CNN journalist returns to tell them that the assumed paradise is Paradise indeed.Richard wants to go. He needs to go, and as he prepares to go he witnesses the further collapse of society. The world is spinning out of control faster than he ever thought possible.Surprisingly, since I really liked this book, I have to admit that I really didn'tlike the main character. Richard is simple, vapid, and lazy. Or, perhaps he was depressed, which made him look like he was lazy. In any case, he seemed to drift through his life and just let things happen to him. Even arranging for his passage to Shan Won is an exercise in making plans without actually making plans.At heart, this story is about the yin and the yang of existence. As Shan Won, the perfect place, grows, the rest of the world decays. The balance of the world is upset.Although there are moments when this book seemed to drag, there was never a moment when I thought I should put it down and try something else for awhile. And the end was completely unexpected.Well, except for the love story aspect of the end. I saw that part coming.