Before I read the Tales of the Madman Underground, I’d never even heard of it. The author, John Barnes was completely unknown to me. However, after reading this book, I would recommend it to just about anybody. I enjoyed the writing style of Mr. Barnes, but the conflict in this book was unclear, I couldn’t keep track of all of the problems.
Karl Shoemaker has been in group therapy at school since fourth grade, but this year, he just wants to be like everyone else. After his father died, his mother became an alcoholic, and Karl has to be the “adult” in the family. He works five jobs just to keep up. However, his mother always manages to steal parts of his savings. Now, his best friend, who he meant to avoid, is avoiding him, he’s supposed to be Karl’s best friend. Karl doesn’t even know why. On top of that, Karl wants to do his own thing this year, and just be normal.
With all of the different problems, it’s hard to distinguish what is happening. My other complaint was the beginning of the story was a bit slow. The plot seemed to drag along, and nothing exciting would happen. This went on for a while, and several times I thought about putting it down and abandoning it. However, if you can get through that part, the rest of the book was phenomenal.
I would also like to compliment John on his characterization, his characters were extremely well developed, and relatable. You knew so much about the main character, it’s almost like you grew up with them. Karl is probably like every other teenager, but to the extreme. He doesn’t have one job, he has five. His father was the mayor, so he is expected to follow in his footsteps and do great things. This extreme allows readers to remain interested, and able to relate, you want to know what happens to Karl. You feel some connection of sorts, which makes the character stronger in the reader’s mind.
Even with the slow beginning, with the combination of the characters, and the style of writing, this was a truly outstanding book.