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 PrintableVersion Shelf lifeLooking at secular booksLOTTERY Perry L. Crandall has an IQ of 76, which means he is not retarded. ‘I am slow’, he tells us, and other people are often ‘too fast’. He is the narrator of Lottery, a book which, as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, uses the voice of someone often excluded from conversations and events to present the prejudices and unexpected kindnesses of other people. This is Patricia Wood’s first book and it has hit the Orange Prize shortlist; by the time this column is published, you may well have heard that it has won. When a mother diesPerry L. Crandall wins the lottery — I’m not spoiling the story by telling you that — after the death of his mother, and is beset by friends and relatives seeking to help him with his cash. From beyond the grave, his shrewd grandmother continues to direct him, but, as the plot develops, Perry learns to trust his own instinct too. In essence, this is a simple book, written in simple, but very well chosen words; I must tell you that there is an amount of swearing here, though I felt it corresponded to the characters’ voices and wasn’t gratuitous. Patricia Woods steers just the right side of sentimentality by creating very credible and ultimately surprising characters. Through this the themes of wealth, trust and strength are developed and so the book becomes, though not sophisticated, a nonetheless warm and fresh morality tale. Idolatry of wealthI’m sure Lottery is going to hit the best seller lists, because of the reasons listed above, and as the person next to you on the train, your sister or your colleague starts reading it, read it yourself. The idolatry of wealth is such a pertinent issue today, and with it in this book comes the crucial question of who we can trust; surely we have a lot to say to our friends about these matters. Sarah Allen© Evangelicals Now - June 2008 |
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