A young adult novel that would make a heart racing and aching over and over again, both beautifully and despondently – but not to the utmost.
Forgive me, Leonard Peacock entails Leonard Peacock’s imminent suicide on his birthday. But before that, he decides to give his presents first to his beloved friends. Four gifts for his friends and a P-38 pistol for him; Leonard is ready to share his story before killing himself.
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock manages to evoke multitudinous feelings through a deluge of past, present, and future events of Leonard Peacock’s life. Tackling a very serious issue in today’s generation, the book was able to pick out apt circumstances which made it seem genuine; Matthew Quick pictures himself as the protagonist, Leonard Peacock’s, and substantially adopts Leonard’s disposition.
Leonard Peacock isn’t the best fictional character out there. The book sometimes glamorizes the conundrums which could make any reader feel sorry for him; but in any way, one can feel the opposite — perhaps because teenagers in shambles can relatively claim that they and Leonard are akin to each other, and what he feels is normal for a muddled teenager. Even so, Leonard philosophically pointed out several underlying reasons of juvenile complications unbeknownst to me. For that reason alone, Leonard stands out among a pile of confused fictional characters.
Matthew Quick’s writing style is apparent in this book; through letters—which is also present in other Quick’s books—from the future, the reader spots Leonard’s iridescent personality and tolerance—which is impossible without his professor and companion, Herr Silverman—and acknowledge the inevitability of life: It goes in blips of predicaments before reaching utter bliss.
Through paradoxical thoughts of Leonard, the book accentuates the conflicted ideas on a teenager’s emotional disintegration. Nevertheless, the book’s gist can be gleaned on such paradoxes. Personally, it didn’t have any incessantly emotional impact and felt like an ebb and flow of emotions and scenarios but I can never deny how hefty the book, especially Leonard, has opened me to unprecedented situations.
Final thoughts, Quick shows Leonard’s personality to potential readers through different forms. However, what Quick missed out was the main character’s depth. Quick must have thought that reinforcing Leonard through his knack for poignant writing would have helped Leonard find himself as a character. Instead, it turned out to be a composite path which failed to meet Leonard’s turmoil. That being said, Quick focused more on what Leonard feels, not on what it feels like to be him.
