Since this story takes place in a nondescript American town, we decided to go for deli food at Kahn’s Deli in the Village; most of us had very large and good pastrami on rye. It seems that everyone liked the book even though it wasn’t considered a blockbuster. A great discussion was followed by time spent picking new books for the coming year.
I have to say that this book turned out to be better than I’d expected! I thought it was another novel about God and all his mysteries when it was actually a poke at the current crop of those books. The well-known “Left Behind” series, which is even mentioned, is about The Rapture, in which Christians are swept to heaven and unbelievers are left behind to endure the Antichrist's Tribulation. Perrotta’s book, on the other hand, is about a Rapture-like event, but in this case, it’s not just the faithful who disappear but also a whole lot of riffraff and non-believers. The result is that the believers are angry that they weren’t chosen, the non-believers want to know what caused it, and everyone worries that it will happen again.
Perrotta does a good job of lampooning the popular religious series. The several cults that emerge after the event are very creative – and very appropriate. The Healing Hug Movement believes their leader has healing powers reminiscent of many televangelists, the Barefoot People embrace a drug-induced lifestyle of free love and wanderlust reminiscent of the Hippie movement, and the Guilty Remnant live a life of asceticism reminiscent of the Hare Krishna, only with much more sinister undertones. I especially liked the long list of rules that members of the GR must adhere to, ranging from the strange (always wearing white) to the bizarre (being required to chain smoke), to the sinister (I won’t reveal the final plot twist!).
Although not the best book ever written (some of the characters are a little stereotypical and some of the outcomes are a little weird), it’s a much more thought-provoking version of the post-apocalyptic world that’s becoming so popular in books and movies. It raises some interesting ideas and questions. One of the things that happens in the wake of the disappearances is that a lot of people romanticize the ones who are gone, “to pretend that they were better than they really were.” This is something that people often do when a loved one dies, only this happens on a much grander scale in the story. The teenagers spend all their time drinking, doing drugs, and having sex, since tomorrow might not matter – and they might turn out to be right. Then there are the people who just want to get back to “normal” and get on with their lives, even if they don’t know how long that will be. The most entertaining part was the list of some of the people who disappeared: movie stars, politicians, athletes, television chefs, the Pope! This is a great lead in to the reading group question “Is there any sector you wish would disappear?” I can think of a few!
The story captures the anxiety and fear that end of the world tales often inspire. Ultimately, there are no answers, nothing is solved, and the future of the word remains unknown. In my opinion, that seems like a much better way of dealing with the mystery than coming up with a trite resolution.
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