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Wallace has spent his summer in the lab breeding a strain of microscopic worms. He is four years into a biochemistry degree at a lakeside Midwestern university, a life that’s a world away from his childhood in Alabama.
His father died a few weeks ago, but Wallace didn’t go back for the funeral, and he hasn’t told his friends Miller, Yngve, Cole and Emma. For reasons of self-preservation, he has become used to keeping a wary distance even from those closest to him. But, over the course of one blustery end-of-summer weekend, the destruction of his work and a series of intense confrontations force Wallace to grapple with both the trauma of the past, and the question of the future.
Deftly zooming in and out of focus, Real Life is a deeply affecting story about the emotional cost of reckoning with desire, and overcoming pain.
Real Life by Brandon Taylor was one of the finalists for the 2020 Booker Prize and is a heavily praised coming of age, gay novel in 2020. Following life of Wallace, a gay black man who is in the midst of finding his identity, trying to fit in with the life whilst also dealing with grief and romance. The contrast of Wallace’s personality to his surrounds is an on-going theme throughout, with the driving force being Wallace trying to figure out his identity.
I remember picking up this book because Goodreads released a newsletter at the beginning of 2020 promoting new books coming out in time for America’s Black History Month, which is February. Within a few minutes I had it downloaded on Audible and was listening to it. I instantly loved it. My favourite part of the novel was the normalcy and lack of drama of the book. There is no huge university scandal happening and every action seems to acknowledge its insignificance in the world. Wallace’s on-going romance and process his father’s death is just as important as his biology lessons.
Additionally, I found the writing really lovely and it was a great listen. While sometimes the lack of drama I mentioned above was odd for a coming of age novel, I soon fell into the slow nature of the book and learned to let their lives coincide with mine.
The reason for this book not being a five star is mainly because of the few occasions where something odd happened that either didn’t add anything to the plot or seemed out of place. This is most noticeable in the friendship group that Wallace has, as well as the cyclical ending. In regard to the friendship, it is obvious they can hardly be seen as a group of good people. From cheating, to relationship problems and a lack of trust amongst friends, with characters pitting themselves against each other, it made the novel a little unsettling. However, I think the purpose of this is for it all to occur whilst Wallace expresses feelings of loneliness. The way he feels lonely in his friendship group, in his biology class and at home links in with his discussions of racism because Wallace often talks about not being understood or acknowledged and questions whether his race places a part in this. The irony of talking to your friends about your loneliness is exacerbated when the friends don’t seem to want to include you. It’s a sad reality to have to face, but Taylors ability to present it as it is was quite remarkable in my opinion.
The ending is my only other point of contention. When I read it, there were very few reviews and pretty much no one talking about it, so I assumed my copy on audio had a glitch and the ending was really the previous chapter. The ending made the entire book feel irrelevant and pointless because of the cyclical nature of it. While I understand it’s intentional and original for a coming-of-age book, it still felt like the book had no progression and drive overall.
In conclusion, as it is #BlackHistoryMonth, I’d recommend this book as a way to educate yourself because there are a few key conversations that are important, however the race message is not as important in this compared to the race and gay message. These two identities Wallace is trying to figure out whilst going through a turbulent period is the basis of the story. If you’re looking to expand your reading and fancy a slow-paced book, I’d recommend Real Life by Brandon Taylor instead.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Purchase from:
Amazon UK here.
Amazon US here.