The Leftovers: A Novel Paperback – June 10, 2014

It's been a few years since Damon Lindelof's adaptation of Tom Perotta's novel The Leftovers ended - long enough for me to be able to approach the book a little more objectively, given that the show moved me deeply and powerfully, and is one of my all-time great TV series. Oh, I still knew the broad strokes of the book - that a small percentage of the earth's population vanished in an unexplained event; that the book takes place three years later, following those left behind; that a faction/cult/religion known as the "Guilty Remnant" has chosen to make people remember the event and not move on; that a "prophet" named Holy Wayne has been traveling the country and trying to help people with their pain. But really, The Leftovers isn't a book about its plot in any real sense; it's about the situation and the characters within it. There are so many ways to read the event at the core of the book - as a metaphor for death, of course, but you could just as easily read it as fear of the end of the world, or the economic collapse, or even the actual Rapture. However you read it, though, the book has to grapple with loss: what we do after the ones we care about have gone, how we cope with trauma and grief, what happens when the world becomes uncertain and unmoored. Perrotta gives us a slew of rich characters here, and in some ways, the book does better than the first season of the show; while the series' first season could be crushing, the book is less so, trying to stoke hope and find some humor - even wry, sad humor - in the ways we all react to chaos and uncertainty. And in doing that, he gives us some wonderful characters to mull over, but more than that, it's a book that feels so human and so humane that it's oddly comforting. The stakes are surprisingly small, and there are no answers here, but as one character says late in the book, it's also a reminder that sometimes, in the face of everything, we "forgot how to be happy." I'm still unconvinced that the book (or the series, for that matter) needed the Holy Wayne story, but that's a small nit to pick; it may have taken me a while to let the series fade a bit, but the book more than merited my time and holds up as a great read, even if you know the outlines of the tale (and where Lindelof would run with it).

It's nice to just look at a review at a short glance and figure out whether or not the book you are thinking of buying is going to be worthwhile. In this case I can say that I did like reading "The Leftovers". Plain & simple.Unlike many of the other reviewers I have not read any other books by Mr. Perrotta, nor have I seen any movies that he was involved with. Therefore I had no preconceived notions of how I might like or dislike this book.I had heard Tom being interviewed on the radio and caught the last few minutes of them discussing this book and it intrigued me so much that I had to buy it on my Kindle. It sounded like the book was kind of sci-fi-ish, kind of spiritual, kind of traumatic, all in one.The book was an easy and fast read for me. The concept while not exactly original did have an interesting twist to it that then became new & fresh. I did connect with some of the characters, although only in a way that I was constantly trying to figure them out. I wanted to know what they were going to do next. Some of them did not "ring true" to me. But in a world where everything is topsy turvy then we can't always know what people will do. In fact some folks do the complete opposite of what you'd expect of them. In that regard this tale becomes acceptable in terms of what these characters were doing.For me, I must confess, I wanted to know what happened to everybody - why did people vanish in the first place? Where did they go? But that wasn't really what this book was about.I think the purpose of telling this story was to take a look at grief and how people deal with loss. Sometimes the ways in which people cope with grief are quite unique and totally unexpected. Even bizarre.It also seems to be a story about survival - sometimes that's how we have to function in life. It's one foot in front of another. One day at a time. Until we get through it. Really. And that process can indeed be boring. Or perhaps disturbing. So if you like to read about people who are trying to deal with a tragic scenario, and it's aftermath then maybe this book is right up your alley. Yes, it's fictional of course. We're not talking about 9/11 here. Yet, the event in this story is something similar in a surreal way.I only finished reading this last night and am still thinking about it. It's still rolling around in my brain. In the end, if a writer can write a book that does make people remember it the following day, or makes the reader think about what it all meant, or it makes them care enough to write a review...then perhaps that is an indication the writer was successful and the book was in fact good.The 4 stars ( instead of 5 ) was because I thought the ending was a little weak - compared to the beginning. To me a book should start with a bang and end with a bang. But that's just me.

I found the book boring- the main bulk of the story is centred on people's daily routine - you have an air of mystery in the first chapter but then it dies off, only to reach the grand finale right at the end.

Historia muy lineal, siempre esperando a que pase algo y nada pasa, mejor ve la serie es mucho mejor pasa todo lo que uno espera q pase en elLibro

J'avais adoré la saison 1 de la série éponyme mais le livre est encore meilleur. J'ai eu du mal à le laisser une fois la dernière page tournée.

Fab novel, kept me gripped to the end. Interesting concept, never read a book like this before. The 'supernatural' element of the disappearing people concerned me at first but if you can suspend your disbelief it's a great read. Would highly recommend.

The book filled in all the gaps from the TV show and was different enough to keep my interest. We'll written. Easy read.