Harry Silver is a man that is in all of us. He not perfect by any means. He doesn't have any particular motivation for greatness. He tends to live in that rut of live where he has accepted his mediocrity. He is driven by an admiration that borders on obsession of Richard Nixon. Even when you are stuck in a rut of mediocrity life has a way of pulling you out and turning your world upside down. Once you are upside down it tends to give you a chance to look at your life from a different angle. While peeing at your life from that angle you notice things you did or are currently doing and see how your actions affect those around you. We are taught the dream is to go to school -get a good job- marry-buy a house in the suburbs-have some kids-raise kids-retire-die. Some people go directly through that pattern content. Others aren't fortunate enough to have all the things we are told we need for happiness like a stable family unit, money to buy house in the suburbs, going to college and getting good job etc… Rarely, there are those of us who refuse to accept this dream and make our own dreams that do not involve the suburbs, kids, or how much salary comes with the job. Harry Silver unfolds as a complicated man who's rut of mediocrity is robbing him of his motivation and desire to be the person he thinks he is. Harry and his brother George have a complicated relationship. George is a successful TV producer and has a pretty wife, two kids, dog, cat, and a nice house in upstate New York. Harry is a Nixon Scholar living in an "ugly" New York City apartment with his wife Claire without kids. Harry has always been jealous of George because despite how self-centered and egotistical George is, he always comes out on top. The book gets off to a heavy start, George Silver has a mental breakdown that causes him to have a car accident that kills a whole family except for one boy. While George is hospitalized Harry and George's wife Jane decide to act on some tensions that have been building over the years. After a few nights of passionate sex that gratifies their desires, George is released from the hospital early. He comes home to find Harry and his wife in their bed together. The combination of rage and his recent mental decline leads to him beating his wife to death with a lamp. This all happens in the first chapter of the book. The book ends at over 400 pages. The first chapter of this book was selected by Salman Rushdie for the best American Short Story of 2008. The rest of the book is mostly about Harry adjusts to this event. Harry is thrown directly into George's life because he becomes guardian of George and Janes kids. His "ugly" New York City apartment is actually Claire's and she is divorcing him because of the affair, so Harry moves into his brothers empty house. He grieves by popping George's pills and having random and odd sexual encounters (which may be the greatest deviation from reality) with strangers off the internet. Through this period you meet several interesting characters and you also get to know George's kids Nate and Ashley who are at boarding schools. The kids are resilient but still struggle to adjust living without their mother who died at the hands of their insane father. Despite the murderous beginning the book is hilarious. The dark dry humor resulted in some concerned stares at me as I cackled in public. The contrasts of darkness and humor are one of the most interesting aspects of the book. The narrator Harry Silver is definitely my favorite part of the book. You feel like you are a part of Harry's conscience as he grows and develops. You want to help him do the right things. You feel embarrassed for him. You feel nervous for him. Every time the phone rings and Harry answers it you wonder if this is going to be a positive or negative experience for Harry. Once I completed the book I missed Harry. I wanted to keep on witnessing Harry's growth. I wanted to call him myself to see how the kids were doing. He becomes a anti-hero with no real powers, just patience and acceptance of all that is thrown at him. I envied his ability to handle tough situations. He almost had a few breakdowns but he always pulls himself together and nudges forward. The thread of Nixon in the book is well written. May We Be Forgiven is not for all readers. There is no real intense action or mysteries to figure out. It is about as close to reality as you can get, which for most of us is boring. If you can enjoy the complexities of mediocrity then you will enjoy May We Be Forgiven.
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