Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King

My rating: 4 of 5 teacups




A.S. King: "Everybody Sees the Ants originated from an idea that we are all prisoners. An idea that bullying is a widely ignored form of torture. An idea that only we can choose to escape from our own prisons. An idea that no one can take something from us if we don't give it."

This is a very powerful novel. It is a story for everyone because it's true that everyone has to had to face some form of shit in their lives in one way or another. Every day all over the world people are being hurt, sexually abused, put down, bullied... friends and family members die, or change, or leave, or join the army and never come back. This book is Lucky Linderman's story.

Lucky Linderman is a boy who has been bullied constantly since he was seven, a boy who's grandad never returned from Vietnam and who's dad never got over it. His mum spends her time swimming to avoid facing their dysfunctional homelife, his uncle has numerous affairs while his aunt battles her need for pills, and Lucky escapes to the only place he can be the man he's always wanted to be: his dreams. At first glance, Lucky Linderman is probably nothing like you, his life may even sound to you like any typical piece of melodramatic fiction... but as this novel progresses you will eventually see how all of us have a little bit of Lucky inside, no matter how well we hide it or how well we've managed to cope with it.

For me, Everybody Sees the Ants wasn't quite as powerful as Please Ignore Vera Dietz, mostly because it didn't break my heart. It is also much stranger, more unique in style and execution, some people may be put off by this. But still, in my opinion, this book is for everyone. For all of us. Because whether or not we can relate to Lucky's individual story doesn't matter so much. We've all experienced life's crap at times. When someone has hurt us, humiliated us, when we've lost someone or a relationship has broken down, when things didn't work out like we'd hoped they would, and when our family and friends couldn't understand. The ants are our worries, our fears, our failures, our insecurities, and when it all comes down to it, we've all seen the ants.