August 12

‘Marcelo in the Real World’ by Francisco X. Stork

Marcelo knows that he is different. He hears music no one else can hear, talks to a doctor about it, and he’s always attended a special school. He loves looking after horses after school, but his father demands that Marcelo work in his law firm’s mailroom that summer to experience “the real world.” There Marcelo meets Jasmine, who he gets to like very much, and Wendell, the son of another partner in the firm who he likes very little.

He learns many things about the real world – about competition and jealousy, anger and desire. But it’s a picture he finds in a file — a picture of a girl with half a face — that truly connects him with the real world: its suffering, its injustice, and what he can do to fight.

This is an astonishingly beautiful book. It’s a long time since I’ve read a book which touched me so deeply, with its mesmerising honesty, integrity and simplicity. I feel as though I’m discovering many things for the first time through Marcelo’s eyes. It’s my ‘Book of the Year’ so far. Mrs O.
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