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The Rest Is Illusion
Book Review: The Rest Is Illusion by Eric Arvin
"Have you ever felt... changed? Like in an instant? For no reason you can think of, it just happens?"Life is all about change, and for a group of college students struggling to figure out who they are and where they fit into the world, change is about to come whether they're ready or not. Coming-of-age novels seem to be a dime a dozen these days. Heck, I've written two of them myself. It takes something special to make one stand out, and something special pretty well describes The Rest is Illusion.
Eric Arvin's life-affirming debut novel is set at Verona College, a small liberal arts school overlooking an ancient, untamed river valley. The story revolves around a group of students. The center character is Dashel, a young, gay man who is dying of the same unnamed disease that painfully and slowly claimed his father's life. He's keeping the disease a secret from his closest friends: his roommate Ashley, an albino who has been treated differently all his life because of his appearance, and Sarah, a repressed Baptist minister's daughter. This trio represents the outsiders.
Then there are the privileged ones. Tony, the handsome and popular football player/frat boy, seems to be the golden child. No one knows he harbors a secret he fears could change his life forever. Then we have Wilder Rawls, the son of an influential politician. Wilder has been taught from the youngest age to seek out the Achilles heel of everyone around him, and use those weaknesses to gain power.
Wilder has been systematically setting up blackmail files on those he sees as weak, people who he can manipulate into compromising situations. He's left a trail of emotionally battered and defeated students in his wake. Dash is one of his past victims. When it becomes obvious that Wilder has set his sights on Tony as his next mark, Dash tries to intervene, but it seems Wilder is untouchable. Can Wilder be stopped before things escalate to a dangerous level?
The book is as much about the college and the surrounding area as it is the students. In fact, the river valley is very much a main character. Take Dash's description, for instance; "The view from the limb is so wonderful, Tony. The river cuts through the hills of the valley like - like a bandsaw. In the early dawn light, the water sparkles like flashes of 'hello.' And then the mist...I swear it, the mist in the morning dances in circles. In circles, Tony. Waltzing with the spirits of the valley - the river dwellers - down the hill to the river. It's a beautiful dance, though I have only seen it once. But it's more real than anything I can remember."
Arvin's writing style is poetic and descriptive, occasionally treading dangerously close to florid. A few times, I felt the need to reach for my dictionary. He either has one hell of a vocabulary or he keeps his thesaurus close at hand. Still, overall, I found the writing beautiful. Some of the imagery, like the selection I quoted above, almost left me breathless.
It's with his characters that he really shines, however. Through the use of shifting viewpoints, you come to know each of the five main characters inside and out. You understand their motives, their hopes and dreams, and even their deepest fears.
My biggest complaint - and it's still a minor one - would be the things we don't know. We never find out what disease Dash is suffering from, or what exactly Wilder did to Dash, or what he's is holding over Maggie, a minor character who plays an important role in the big climax. These details are inconsequential on the whole, but lose threads just bug me.
Arvin describes the book as magical realism, but the magic in The Rest is Illusion is subtle. It's more about the power of love, friendship, forgiveness, and acceptance than wands and spells. Still, there are otherworldly forces at work in the lives of Dash, Ashley, Sarah, Tony, and Wilder, and before the story is over, they will all be changed forever. And, just maybe, you will be, too.