Absent Landlord: An Interesting Parable

The description of this book intrigued me, so I decided to give it a try.

“In this house of failure-ridden misfits, status means everything. When fast-talking newcomer, Lars, tricks insecure Seth out of even the lowest room in the house, Seth resorts to suicide. After he fails at this too, however, Seth wakes up and finds everything he used to take for granted now to be priceless gifts, including the rickety old house. He even decides to obey the long-ignored rules of the absent landlord, which say to care for the others in the house.

Even though Lars continually crushes him and the others to climb his way to the top, Seth must persevere in his quiet resolve, not realizing that the fate of everyone in the house depends on it.”

This is an interesting story because the hero is so pathetic to start out. You can’t read about him without feeling some pity while at the same time not being surprised that he has such a hard time making friends. He is the epitome of self-pity and self-loathing. The antagonist, Lars, makes it really easy to dislike him. He has almost no redeeming qualities. These, and all the rest of the unusual characters, makes for a very interesting read.

The author does a good job of setting the scene. You can easily imagine what the house looks like and what the characters look like. While the characters are outrageous at times, they are very human and the interactions are very human as well. It is really hard to say more about this book other than I liked it and
thought it was well worth reading.

* I received a free copy of this book for my unbiased opinion. The opinions expressed are my honest reaction to this book.*