Somehow, I am not a great fan of literature where an animal is the central character and the narrator. But, the initial reports on this book was good enough inspiration for me to buy and read this book. An intelligent rat, born and lived in a bookstore, having to eat the book for survival, develops a taste for literature. Reading classics after classics, Firmin now develops the intelligence of a human , but trapped in a rat's body. Soon, he find himself to be a misfit among his tribe and forced to live a solitary life in the book store, his heaven and the local cinema where the classic movies are shown 24 hrs a day.The attempt now is to develop a method of correspondence with humans, like whom he started thinking. Norman shine, the owner of of the bookstore has become his initial admiration. Observing Norman and his clientele, Firmin tries to attract his attention. However, his fondness towards Norman turns into a nightmare, after the attempted poisoning by Norman to get rid of him.
Firmin however, manages to get the attention of a solitary, fantacy fiction writer, who frequent the bookstore. Injured and abandoned on the street, he was rescued by the writer and was looked after by him for a long time, before the tragic demise of him.
In the meanwhile, uptown Boston, where he lives is all set to change. The area has been marked out for urban rebuilding and all those shops and establishment including the book store will have to be closed and removed.
Book is pretty unique in his approach and style. Its funny at times. But, beyond the initial curiosity, I did not enjoy the read. Having said that, this book have been appreciated by lot many readers and critics.
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Firmin : Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife
Sam Savage
Phoenix Paperback
232 Pages
Rs 295/-
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More read : Telegraph
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