Mailman by J. Robert Lennon
Mailman is not an exciting novel. Its not what you'd call a page-turner. It isn't filled with interesting adventures, though it does contain a hilarious calamity or two. None of the characters in this book are heroes. In fact, this story probably isn't quite like any story you've read before.
Mailman is a story about a person who doesn't quite fit in. It is a story for the disaffected.
The main character is a middle-aged man named Albert Lippincott. Albert is a mailman in Nestor, a small college town in upstate New York. Albert's live has never been easy. He is possed of an above-average intellect yet has very little in the way of ordinary social skills. He's not a bad person, he just can't seem to find his niche.
He dropped our of college after a strange confrontation with one of his professors which landed him in a mental hospital. After leaving the hospital he ends up marrying the nurse who cared for him there, only to see her divorce him in favor of a doctor.
After his divorce Albert's life is a lonely one. Day after day he lives a life of almost constant frustration. He worries constantly about everything from postal inspectors to his sister's promiscuous lifestyle. He tries to make friends and fit in only to find out again and again that he's just not like everybody else.
J. Robert Lennon has written a puzzle of a book. The story doesn't begin with the begining of Albert's life and proceed to the end, but rather starts in the middle and tells the story through flashbacks as we proceed towards the end. I found myself often frustrated with an inability to follow the storyline. I needed to see the point, I wanted to know where the story was going. It wasn't until the last couple of pages that it seemed like the last piece of the puzzle fell into place and I could appreciate the entire story. The book ends in a blaze of pitty and sorrow that makes the preceding maze of writing worthwhile.
Albert Lippincott is not a character many people are going to identify with, but readers will identify with many of the situations he finds himself in and many of the problems he must deal with. If you decide to read this book, be patient. Read it until the end. I'm guessing that you won't be sorry you did.
Say Anything Library: J. Robert Lennon
Mailman is a story about a person who doesn't quite fit in. It is a story for the disaffected.
The main character is a middle-aged man named Albert Lippincott. Albert is a mailman in Nestor, a small college town in upstate New York. Albert's live has never been easy. He is possed of an above-average intellect yet has very little in the way of ordinary social skills. He's not a bad person, he just can't seem to find his niche.
He dropped our of college after a strange confrontation with one of his professors which landed him in a mental hospital. After leaving the hospital he ends up marrying the nurse who cared for him there, only to see her divorce him in favor of a doctor.
After his divorce Albert's life is a lonely one. Day after day he lives a life of almost constant frustration. He worries constantly about everything from postal inspectors to his sister's promiscuous lifestyle. He tries to make friends and fit in only to find out again and again that he's just not like everybody else.
J. Robert Lennon has written a puzzle of a book. The story doesn't begin with the begining of Albert's life and proceed to the end, but rather starts in the middle and tells the story through flashbacks as we proceed towards the end. I found myself often frustrated with an inability to follow the storyline. I needed to see the point, I wanted to know where the story was going. It wasn't until the last couple of pages that it seemed like the last piece of the puzzle fell into place and I could appreciate the entire story. The book ends in a blaze of pitty and sorrow that makes the preceding maze of writing worthwhile.
Albert Lippincott is not a character many people are going to identify with, but readers will identify with many of the situations he finds himself in and many of the problems he must deal with. If you decide to read this book, be patient. Read it until the end. I'm guessing that you won't be sorry you did.
Say Anything Library: J. Robert Lennon
Graeme
likwidshoe
Bullwinkle
robert108
CatMow
keith_glory2
Move_Zig
watashiwa
Rodney Graves
