The End of the Day

I just never really got this one. It's so very strange.

This one's a reread. I have loved everything written under the name Claire North, and if I get a chance to read the author's other works under her own name, I'm willing to bet I'll love them too.

It's fascinating reading this one working a retail job. Anyone who has will understand that by about half an hour into any given shift, I hate all people always and forever, the whole species is irredeemable. And I love Charlie just going through everything with this curiosity and fascination with people. For a bit after reading, it's not that I like people that much more, but that I'm full of the understanding that people are fascinating and complicated and, yeah, exhausting and terrible on a regular basis, but isn't it amazing to see other people existing.

It has to be good writing if it's giving a retail employee during a pandemic a measure of faith in humanity.

The End of the Day by Claire North is a thoughtful exploration of life, death, and humanity. There's very little plot, but this story offers significant insight into modern political issues and the human race as a whole.

Charlie is the harbinger of Death. Sometimes he comes as a courtesy and sometimes he comes as a warning, though he's never really sure which.

I honestly don't think I've ever read a book with so little plot. This is not an action-heavy story. The best way I can describe the plot is that it's a collection of stories chronicling Charlie's experiences as the harbinger of death. His work takes him all over the world and allows him to meet people from every walk of life.

I almost hesitate to call this a “slice of life” book, since that typically means the plot is secondary to a cast of complex and compelling characters. I'd say this is better described as “slice of humanity.”

GIven the unique nature of this book, there are not many characters that are explored in depth. Other than Charlie, you will probably not find yourself wholeheartedly committed to most of the character encountered in this story. Even so, every character feels like a living person. Side characters that barely get any page time are well-written and pop of the page after only a couple of sentences.

One of the unique aspects of Claire North's writing is the dialogue. Very few authors can write dialogue in a way that sounds like characters are living, breathing people. North excels at this, crafting conversations that may not always feel linear or coherent, but always feel real.

This is not a quck-paced book. Each scene is loosely connected to the scene that came before, and the plot is almost nonexistent. This is a book that explores ideas and people.

I can say with some certainty that this is a book I will be thinking about for quite a while. It shines a spotlight on both the highs and lows of humanity and explores some powerful themes. Subjects like racism, poverty, and war were explored side by side with current events like Brexit, illegal immigration, and equal rights movements.

I enjoyed this book a lot, but I can easily see why others might dislike it. Ideas and character are the main focus, with plot left as an afterthought. Even so, I was never bored.

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Charlie is a nice if somewhat depressed guy. He is blessed with the triple virtues of patience, fortitude, and empathy. After his long-term girlfriend dumps him, he decides to take the application test to become the Harbinger of Death. He passes and embarks on a career as a Harbinger. (There are also Harbingers of War, Pestilence, and Famine, who cross paths with Charlie, but none of that amounts to much of anything.)

As a Harbinger, Charlie doesn't have to inflict any horror or suffering. He's not a sadist, albeit his job involves a fair bit of masochism. His job is to go to people before Death visits them in order to give them some memento or trinket that reflects something important to or about their life. Then he listens to them and serves, as he says repeatedly, as a Witness or a Bridge to Honor Their Lives.

Death is a nice guy, also. Death visits people, particularly interesting people and listens to them. Sometimes Death just listens and goes away. Death seems quite reasonable. Death doesn't even have to appear in a frightening guise, unless the subject expects to see Death in a scary guise. (Charlie sees Death as an elderly, well-dressed man.)

The book is structured around Charlie's jobs. One time he goes on an epic trek to the glaciers of Greenland. Another time, he wanders around Nigeria, helping out a lesbian comic and her partner, who are facing prejudice. Still another time, he wanders around the American South visiting racists.

The book is well-written, the stories are engaging, but the structure of the book is repetitive. After about half-way through the book, however, I began to wonder when the character development and the plot would kick in.

Charlie doesn't change throughout the book. He loses his girlfriend and accepts that with resignation. He acquires a girlfriend and accepts that without enthusiasm. He gets kidnapped and tortured several times, and while that makes him unhappy and hurt, he deals with it as part of the job, learning that while Death will retaliate against those who try to coerce Death, merely getting revenge for torturing Charlie is not in the cards. Charlie crosses paths with Patrick Fuller, who wants to be his friend, but nothing happens there. In fact, we never find out what purpose Patrick plays in the book – he's just there. Charlie remains introspective and mildly depressed from start to finish.

Likewise, I thought a plot might kick in at some point, but it didn't. Charlie has jobs and he does his jobs and will keep doing his jobs, as assigned, because he is a witness and a bridge and he is honored to honor the living. Seems reasonable.

My three-star rating is not to indicate that I did not like the book. I liked the book. I liked the stories and the characters. However, I don't think that I would recommend it generally, although I can see how the introspective quality of the book – with just enough leftwing self-righteousness about Global Warming, Racism, and Persecution of Homosexuals – would be attractive to some. As for me, I was waiting for character development and a plot to kick in.

A dissapoinment after several books by North I really liked. I felt like it lacked a plot – Charlie travels, delivers objects, things are happening to him, but he is rather passive. And all the shreds of conversations he keeps hearing seem to exist only to hammer a Mesage home. While I do agree with the general message, it felt really like not at all subtle proselytizing.
Still, I like North's writing and there were passages worth reading on their own, so not a complete dissapointment.