Books like Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha

I hate to be facetious about this, but it’s true. I love to read good books as much as I love to discover which ones are actual impostors—that is, which ones are overrated past the norm, books like “On the Road,” “Catcher in the Rye,” or anything by Ayn Rand. Yuck. Well, this one won the Booker, which I can only guess is a HUGE deal. But I guess the year this book was published there were a few other, if any, contenders for the top prize.It’s certainly not awful. It’s actually entertaining, readable, sometimes funny. There is true mastery of the language here, an even flow. The tone is more tolerable than say, Emma Donoghue’s “Room” which is also about a child growing up. But, although I am not at all a fan of the almighty “Huck Finn”, I must say that this one does not possess that wackiness—there is some unconscious logic to Twain's tale, at the very least. This is a chapterless novel; a pretty ordinary account of a pretty ordinary boy. What is the main motor that keeps the prose congruent, that makes the entire novel work? The fact that Patrick’s parents fight. That's all. They keep it private, they try to keep the kids out of it, yet this still registers within Paddy… he’s human alright, just not a remarkable one.Indeed Bookers are bestowed upon (like the Pulitzers here in the U.S.) to novels that exemplify the experience of being European (American for a Pulitzer). This hits several targets to become a well-loved book, but it still remains a coming-of-age story of an Irish imp—a precocious, slightly evil ten year old boy. Who do we side with in this account of playground cruelty & cute impressions? With the bully? The victim? In this case, I would say... neither.Apathy is the worst type of feeling a book can give its reader.