This novel chronicles a fresh-out-of-college youth who embarks on a trip to find out what he wants to do with his life. It is not a whiney or complaining novel, it is merely a story about a young man who is unsure of what to do. The main character, Gregg Rask, bored with working as a legal assistant and in possession of a considerable savings account, decides to quit his job and live with his brother, who works for the U.S. State Department, in Poland. He passes on law school, despite the never-ending protests from his parents, and tries to continue the same lifestyle he had before graduating from college and the appearance of that trifling “real world”.

After spending nearly a year in Poland, Rask returns to America with the realization that there are no easy answers, perhaps no real sense of fate or purpose; there are merely challenges that people must face or run from. Rask faces his challenges in a way that not too many people would. He realizes, at some level, that people make decisions that direct the future of their lives. Making a decision may not make things more certain or definite, but it is what people do. It may be unsatisfying in a sense, but it is life.

What I enjoyed most about this novel was the description Power used to evoke real, human emotions. Here is how Power described Rask’s introduction to Poland:

In the decade and a half since capitalism arrived it had come to show itself in a tacky manner. In America capitalism was integrated with the very fiber of a community. Here, it was pasted on top. Billboards rose up where it didn’t seem it should, across from churches or cemeteries, and even when the advertisement wasn’t that bad, it seemed oddly out of place. Small houses stood next to giant rotating cell phones offering the cheapest rates. There seemed to be none of the subtleties of advertising Rask was used to.

Power’s description of Rask’s visit to Auschwitz is particularly moving and a must-read. The reader is practically looking through Rask’s eyes as he experiences the utter horror of the Holocaust at a human and real level by seeing the personal effects of those who did not survive the concentration camp. Power has Rask focus on a single shoe to bring home the enormity of what happened at Auschwitz. Instead of looking at the overall numbers, Power chooses to look at the suffering at an individual level, and it certainly reaches the reader and Rask as well. Rask’s exposure to this actual suffering, to the reality of life, is difficult for him to handle, and an experience that certainly helps him grow as a person and prepares him for what he does at the end of the book (no spoilers).

As I read this book, I felt that Power really had an insight to the internal struggles of people of my generation. The novel begins at a wedding, something that tends to scare most people my age. Power grasped that basic fear that this generation has and expressed it perfectly in this brief passage:

“You’re married,” Rask said in a tone he intended to be complimentary, but that he couldn’t keep from sounding alarmed and shocked and a little guilty, as if there was something he could have done to save Fred.

Another thing that I liked about this novel was the description of the lives of those who work for an Embassy. It was something that I had not thought about and found intriguing. I’m not much for anthropology, but I enjoyed being exposed to the social structure and living patterns of the Embassy crew. The description, in fact, reminded me in many ways of Richard Price’s novels. Power seemed to have the same intuitive grasp of the characters involved and the over-arching struggles they faced.

This book uniquely combined character development, humor, and vivid foreign landscapes to create the difficult illusion that you are in on the action and invested in the characters' lives. The characters were alternatively flawed and idealistic enough that it was no stretch to believe that they were real people. The individual characters embodied a range of emotions, with the thoughts and actions of the characters Owen, Gregg, and Steve representing the conflicting desires of wanting to do what’s best for oneself and forgetting about everybody else, of sacrificing one’s self for others, and the middle ground between those two that most people normally follow. Beyond individuals, the descriptions of and conclusions about human interactions were insightfully executed. Part of the believability of the characters was accomplished by the use of humor. While the book certainly did not center around comedy, it was funnier than most written word and allowed for light moments in the midst of tragedy. Additionally, the setting of the novel was incredible. The descriptions of various European landmarks and lesser known but beautifully depicted areas were effective in creating an exotic backdrop for sometimes mundane and sometimes dreadful events. Overall, a very enjoyable and worthwhile read.