Dave Eggers

Eyes and the Impossible

Hannah DCamp

That I could go.
And that perhaps I was meant to go.

Heroes go forth.
To be alive is to go forth.
So we went forth.

I don't quite know what to make of this book. It's so complex it's simple (just as Johannes himself would say).

There's absolutely something beautiful about it, but I'm not sure I can explain it. I loved all of Johannes' inner thoughts. It's interesting, because I know he's a dog, so I would catch myself so often wondering if he was entirely reliable. After all, he was prone to saying things like how he'd been alive for hundreds of years, or that he could run faster than the speed of light. I assumed that I knew better than him probably, because obviously he didn't have a good concept of time. Interspersed with these very dog-like moments, were thoughts that were genuinely profound, charitable, and humorous by turns. I stopped thinking so much about how Freya couldn't possibly be thousands of years old, and just let myself hear what Johannes was saying.

At first I was put off slightly by the prose. It was (fittingly like Johannes) sometimes abrupt and childish, and other times verbose and thoughtful. It took some settling into for me, and it wasn't something I could really skim - all of this is a good thing, to be clear. Johannes' voice was distinct. Each line had to be read for itself. I didn't once expect the direction the story went. That made it refreshing and engaging. There's something masterful about it.

And the way the story went was completely striking. The courage shown by Johannes and Bertrand was refreshing, and something of a shock. The amount of panic I felt even just viewing their decision was wild - what if it was a mistake? How would their friends feel? That page and a half of repeated thought was overwhelming (when I say this, I mean that I loved it and thought it was extremely well done). Johannes mentioned the feeling of rightness, that he "had to" act as he did. I pray frequently that I'll have the courage to act this decisively when the opportunity arises.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the artwork. It was absolutely stunning. There was something restful about the pieces used, and having a chance to stop and breathe and take in the colors and textures was so beautiful. I loved this choice especially combined with Johannes' fixation on the "rectangles" that he finds so captivating.

I'm not sure who this book is for. Will children appreciate it? What age of child is meant to pick this up? I think it'd make a great "boy book," which is rare in this day and age (and in spite of the "books are for everyone you punk" idea, boys and girls are nonetheless different and will enjoy different things, and books for boys just aren't being published in the magnitude that they used to be). Some of the vocabulary is heightened, so young kids might struggle a bit to understand some of Johannes' thoughts; simultaneously it has a rambling, episodic quality that would probably appeal to younger readers - that is to say, it doesn't have a clear "plot" or very high stakes. It's very philosophical, very gentle, but also very comical, very emotional. It's probably for a homeschooling family somewhere tbh (there is some blasphemy near the front half of the book, but otherwise the book is clean). Another reviewer mentioned that the teacher/librarian would have to know their audience before choosing to read this to their students, and I completely agree. This book won't be for every kid, but there are some kids who will absolutely love it.

*Does anyone else remember when I wrote at length about how much I liked "anthropomorphic animal fiction" in my Beastars, Vol. 1 review and then I read BEASTARS 2 and I had to quickly backpedal? Because I unfortunately thought about it every time I picked this up 🙃

Eyes and the Impossible

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