Leave the World Behind

More realistically: 4 and a half stars.Some books you see play out like a movie in your head. For me, Leave the World Behind was a stage play (as most of the story takes place over a day or two in the same setting) with an incredible cast of actors. It's a story fueled by tension- and it wears the reader's nerves to shreds. Who is the victim here? Who is in the right? Most importantly, what is happening? It's a slow build to answers and none of the resolutions are laid at the reader's feet. You must infer and infer. I suspect this book will mean different things to different readers as if we all followed a customized path (a la a Choose Your Own Adventure book). I immediately identified with Ruth, as I too would want the safety and security of being home in an emergency. Once my brain had decided that Ruth was my champion, how I saw the rest of the novel was pretty much set in my head. I bet I would find a totally different experience if I spoke to a reader who felt Amanda or Clay or GW was the soul of the story. I have read a ton of end of the world fiction. It breaks down into 3 categories: as the event is happening, right after the event (the rebuild), and a generation or 2 from the event. Leave the World Behind is in the first category and so information is sparse, tense, and easily compared to life before the event because, in essence, it is still that life too (or the very end of it). I started reading this during election week. My nerves were already shot and I realized that I was going to have to put it down and read it at some other time in my life. The writing was gorgeous and deserved my full attention. When it came back in for me (via Libby), I was ready. I backed up a couple of chapters and dove back in. I was going to read this no matter what, but now it is on the TOB longlist and I'm curious to see if makes it onto the shortlist. Truthfully, it is not a new idea. I'm thinking of [b:On the Beach 38180 On the Beach Nevil Shute https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327943327l/38180.SY75.jpg 963772] or [b:Into the Forest 86236 Into the Forest Jean Hegland https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1479868647l/86236.SY75.jpg 595978] or [b:How I Live Now 161426 How I Live Now Meg Rosoff https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327870252l/161426.SY75.jpg 1132968]. What sets it apart is the writing, the characters, and the situation (an isolated Airbnb with no connection to the outside world). It's a hell of an experience to read it.