God Clobbers Us All

Edgar is 18 and loves surfing, drugs, and girls with equal measure. He also works in a nursing home with mostly forgotten residents. On the surface, the title seems to refer to the sad demise of the nursing home residents, left alone to die grueling deaths from a variety of unsympathetic diseases. Edgar seems more interested in the sexual exploits with his female coworkers than caring for the patients. He has sexual relationships with two nurses, one married and the other a single, teenage mother. He dreams of surfing in Australia, not a career in elder care.

On deeper reflection after finishing the novel, if humans are made in God's image, then Edgar's lack of wisdom, selfish sexual gratification, and carelessness in giving LSD to an elderly coworker clobbers his friendships and relationships, a reflection of his youthful ignorance to the consequences of his actions. His reckless abandon with the people around him, though not malicious, is devastating nonetheless.

Ballantine's prose is exquisite and poetic at times. My only gripe is that it is WAY too sophisticated and complex coming from an 18-year old, as the narrative is told in first person, present tense. If it was told in first person, past tense, as an older Edgar reflecting on this youthful passage with the wisdom that comes with age, then I would have enjoyed it more. This narrative strategy was very distracting to me. I kept thinking that no matter how intelligent this 18-year old could have been, he never, ever would have spoken like this: “... the illusion of ease and the impenetrability of his feable idealism up in that eagle's nest bedroom...”

Even with this slight misstep, I loved this novel very much. Ballantine is a master wordsmith. I look forward to reading more of his work in addition to what I've read in The Sun.