The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox

Published by Victoria University Press.

I hesitate to even slightly reveal the plot of this book to you, as I went in blindly, totally fascinated by the tacky lo-fi cover design (yes, I judge books by their covers). Cover design is so slick these days, and it is usually the self-published books that have this kind of cover design – but this was by Victoria University Press, and a well known author! I became curious.

I knew nothing of Knox beforehand other than I saw her once at an art opening. She caught my eye because she oozed fame with her flowing grey locks. Also, when I was a teen, a family friend gifted me Knox’s teen novel Dreamhunter, which had such a bad cover that I cast it aside. It's probably at this point that you start to wonder why someone so shallow is reviewing a book, to which I would reply that you are definitely justified in that assessment.

This book is shelved in the Contemporary Fiction section of our library, and not knowing anything about the book, I therefore assumed that it had nothing fantastical, romantic, sci-fi, mysterious or thrilling about it... This naïve assumption proved to provide much joy, because this book contained pretty much all of these themes.

When I read this book, I spent a fair amount of time getting distracted with internet searches about new words I had never heard like Moot and Sidh. (Just so you know, the latter is pronounced “Shee”. I spent half of the book pronouncing it “Side” in my mind and had to mentally change once I found out the correct pronunciation). I love books that expand your vocabulary for the old and strange. This book also has plenty of action, with one chapter in particular involving a psychotic ‘Muleskinner’ and a rising tide – by the time I finished that chapter it was 1am and I was in a pool of sweat.

The main character is what I liked most about this book. Taryn Cornick is her name, and she has an infectious open-mindedness to the strange and unexpected. She just flows into new situations with an ease that leads you along in wonder. She is accompanied by an equally likeable character, Jacob Berger, a police detective that should be trying to form a case against Taryn, but keeps being pulled into her unfolding drama. Initially, he is not as open-minded as her, but by the end he becomes almost more involved.

Why am I not mentioning anything in particular? Because I really think it’s best that you enter this book like Taryn traverses the world, with an open mind and a clean slate. That said, don’t read this book if you only like realism – this is anything but.

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