The occasion of a new TJ Klune novel is cause for celebration. His characters, who sometimes seem like members of the band of misfit toys (and I say that with great affection), are engaging, vital, funny, charming, and tragic. His plots are involving and propulsive. They’re meaningful. They say something,
So when I received a copy of Klune’s new novel, We Burned So Bright, I couldn’t wait to dig right in. It’s about Don and Rodney, a gay couple in their 70s who drive across the United States to accomplish something important before the world comes to an end, in around 30 days, thanks to a newly discovered black hole that’s swallowing our solar system. I mean, intriguing, right?
Now, if only it worked.
At a scant 175 pages, it’s stuffed with a bunch of characters who, frankly, need a lot more work Don and Rodney don’t feel like protagonists as much as they feel like the ideas of protagonists. The people they meet along the way (creepy family, homicidal girl, flower-child couple, kind stranger) are more archetypes than characters. And they all sit on checkerboard spaces inside something vaguely resembling the outline of a plot, in which there’s a pinch or two of wonder as planets and our moon are swallowed up, Earth’s gravity decreases, and the end of everything looms.
But none of it creates drama. None of it feels vital. Or real. Or even very well written. Klune has the story move so quickly, we don’t have time to get to know any of these people, which means we don’t have time to care about them, either. One and all, they come across like basic recipes for characters: a dash of setup, a sprinkle of conflict or disappointment or joy, and then Don and Rodney get back in their RV and drive off. In other words, they move on and so do we.
The final pages, when Don and Rodney finally get to do what they set out to do, feels predictable and, worse, empty. I don’t want to give it all away, but they say what they have in mind matters to them, and they’ve decided to spend their last days doing it, after all. They talk about it like it’s redemption, like it’s what they live for, but it comes across more like just another afternoon adventure.
In a novel about the end of the world, the end of the solar system, I think it’s fair to say that more was called for. There are big stories to tell. And while I imagine the counter-intuitive programming of a small story is interesting, this story isn’t. I wanted more. Much more.
Much as I hate to say it, We Burned So Bright burns dim. ◊
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