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Art & Books Books

Apocalypse For Beginners

APOCALYPSE FOR BEGINNERS by Nicolas Dickner (Vintage), 254 pages, $22 paper.

Dickner launches his novel on February 9 at the Dora Keough. See Listing. Rating: NNN


Obsession can kill you. Then again, it can also motivate people to seek new knowledge and get to know the world.

Both things are true in Nicolas Dickner’s Apocalypse For Beginners.

Teenager Hope Randall comes from a family driven by the idea that the world will end in their lifetime. They each have their own method for predicting the actual date of the apocalypse, and most of the Randalls have some kind of mental breakdown when the date passes and the earth survives.

Hope uses science, a passion for ramen and admiration for David Suzuki, among other things, to make her doomsday prediction. Freckled, with fiery red hair, she’s mostly ignored by her peers. She’s definitely a bit strange, but her best friend, Mickey – her only friend, actually – is falling for her big time.

Once past high school and facing post-graduation pressures, Hope abandons her pal and flies off to Japan to seek Charles Smith, the bestselling author who’s chosen the same day as she for the end of the world.

Dickner, who won the 2010 Canada Reads contest for his novel Nikolski, continues to pursue his themes of how young people connect. Hope is a great character – slightly mad, but smart and compelling – and Dickner brings Tokyo to vivid life in the section tracking her pursuit of the mysterious Smith.

Unfortunately,a when Mickey and Hope separate, the story loses some of its emotional drive. But Dickner eventually recovers it, making Apocalpyse a quirky and fun ride.

Write Books at susanc@nowtoronto.com

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