The Universe versus Alex Woods

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Alex himself is growing and rising to the task that Peterson puts him to - it’s a very remarkable literary journey. The protagonist, Alex, is a logical, naive, introverted young man with a compelling, authentic voice. There is a lot of social disconnect between him and his peers, due to the fact that he enjoys learning, voices his opinions - regardless of their appropriateness - and tends to go off on many tangents. As a biology student, I found all of the detailed information that Alex provided in regards to his scientific learning to be very interesting (which, from what I've seen, places me in the minority on that count). It is hard not to empathize with Alex, whose childlike innocence and unique worldview make him quite easy to like. Extence's engaging coming-of-age debut skillfully balances light and dark, laughter and tears." - Publishers Weekly I don’t even remember how I came to read Gavin Extence's debut novel "The Universe Versus Alex Woods" in the first place but while having forgotten over lots of books since, “Alex” has stayed with me because this is more than a coming-of-age story. It's also about a gruff solitary old man, also smart and sweet on the inside - and how they meet and their relationship as it evolves and what it means to the both of them. Other characters who make an appearance are the boy's mother, a beloved dog, an older sister type figure (friend) from school and other minor characters such as kids at school, some bullies, some not, neighbors, etc.

urn:lcp:universeversusal0000exte_k4z0:epub:fab24bb8-a52e-4644-b107-5cf04a86cfe7 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier universeversusal0000exte_k4z0 Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t3qw5p64w Invoice 1652 Isbn 9780316246576 From early on, it’s clear that Alex himself is in control of his story — no obscure first-person narrator here, thank you. And in this, Extence shines a light on the very nature of storytelling, the way that only one character can really guide the pace and direction of a story. Narrative pointers are scattered through the text, as are philosophical musings on life itself as a kind of story. There is nothing awkward, then, in Alex pointing out to the reader what they should pay particular attention to. In English author Gavin Extence’s debut novel, The Universe Versus Alex Woods, the titular teenage protagonist embarks on a geeky and surreal journey after forging an unlikely friendship with a marijuana-addled Vietnam veteran. Many critics have compared the book to the works of Kurt Vonnegut and Mark Haddon. I really liked Alex’s mum - it was really refreshing to read about a single parent and someone who lives a very alternative lifestyle (she is a clairvoyant and owns a tarot card shop) who isn’t a flake or dropout. Mr Peterson was superb, as was Alex’s friendship with Ellie, the foul-mouthed girl in the year above.The characters are all incredibly well-developed, and their struggles and triumphs feel real and relatable. I found myself rooting for Alex and his unlikely friendship with Mr. Peterson, an elderly man with a passion for Kurt Vonnegut and a terminal illness. Their bond is both heartwarming and heartbreaking, and their conversations about life, death, and the universe are both thought-provoking and poignant. The unlikely friendship between those two was brilliantly portrayed: The elderly Peterson, smoking weed against his chronic pain, who only hesitatingly and grudgingly opens up to Alex to, eventually, putting the ultimate trust in him. Od první chvíle jsem si uvědomoval, že po dočtení té knihy mi bude smutno. Je to další z knih, u kterých víte, jak dopadne. Příběh tedy není o tom, co se stane, ale jak se to stane. Meteorit, který zasáhne Alexe Woodse a dílem této nehody dostane epilepsii je spouštěč řady více či méně bizarních událostí. Alex Woods se začne zajímat o neurologii a astrofyziku (aby ne, když na vás sletí meteorit a praští do hlavy) a brzy se seznámí s panem Petersonem, válečným veteránem a podivínem. Spřátelí se a Alex se pro něj brzy stane nejbližším člověkem. Jejich přátelství Alexovi přináší nová témata, nad kterými musí přemýšlet a musí je řešit. Vesmír versus Alex Woods je kniha o dospívání, takže vám určitě připomene slavnější knihy na podobné téma. Jedním z témat knihy je eutanazie a tady musím zvednout obočí. Nedávno jsem viděl dokument Terryho Pratchetta "Choose to die" a je evidentní, že Gavin Extence od Pratchetta opisoval. Některé motivy z dokumentu zazní v knize, nicméně celkové vyznění této části knihy je opačné, než u Pratchetta (konkrétnější být nechci). Je to trochu škoda, protože Extence si mohl dát tu práci a do příběhu zakomponovat polemiku, kterou v dokumentu dost sugestivně začal Terry Pratchett. To je vlastně má jediná výtka vůči knize – že téma asistované sebevraždy je zde podáno příliš povrchně. A tale of an unexpected friendship, an unlikely hero and an improbable journey...This novel might just strike you as one of the funniest, most heartbreaking novels you've ever read. This is the story of seventeen-year-old Alex Woods - born to a clairvoyant mother and a phantom father, victim of an improbable childhood accident - who is stopped at Dover customs in possession of 113 grams of marijuana and the ashes of his best friend, Vietnam veteran Isaac Peterson. What follows is a highly original and compelling account of Alex's life and the strange series of events that brought him here.”

Alex becomes friends with the 'odd' Mr Peterson after running into his garden to escape bullies, but their relationship soon grows, even including an obscure book group which Alex holds in his house named "THE SECULAR CHURCH OF KURT VONNEGUT". This in itself is another good quality of the novel, as it encourages the reader to read his books, as well as being interesting due to the science fiction elements discussed. In life, there are no true beginnings or endings. Events flow into each other, and the more you try to isolate them in a container, the more they spill over the sides, like canal-water breaching its artificial banks. In conclusion, I really enjoyed "The Universe Versus Alex Woods" a lot. It is a beautifully written and emotionally resonant novel that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. Gavin Extence has created a truly memorable character in Alex Woods. An introverted bookworm epileptic who loves learning about math, physics, astronomy, and who openly admits that his hobbies are definitely "gay" (in the high school context) When a book opens with a seventeen year old protagonist beings stopped at Dover customs in the middle of what seems to be a nervous breakdown, with a large bag of marijuana and an urn full of ashes on the passenger seat, you know there’s going to be some pretty interesting explanations coming up.Die Geschichte startete so gut, eben wie Alex mit Marihuana und einer Urne aufgegriffen wird und dann erzählt er uns aus der Ich-Perspektive wie es dazu kam. Leider ist der Beginn viel zu lang und ausschweifend erzählt. Sehr skuril und schon irgendwie witzig, aber der Autor kommt einfach nicht zum Punkt. Alex ist mir nicht nahe gegangen, was die Längen noch anstrengender gemacht hat zu lesen. The friendship between Alex and Mr. Peterson is very much like that of Russell and Carl in Up: a young boy befriends a grouchy old man who lost his wife, and eventually the two begin to consider each other as a family of sorts. I loved watching this friendship grow and develop. Though it was filled with difficulties, the influence that this friendship had on both parties was quite powerful - especially towards the end where it is shown just how much they are willing to do for each other. At the beginning of the novel, Alex is a boy, but with Mr. Peterson's help, he becomes a man with a heightened sense of integrity and a new outlook on life. Vielleicht startet genau dann endlich die Geschichte rund um ein sehr wichtiges und interessantes Thema (ich spoiler hier nicht, habe mich aber aktiv spoilern lassen), doch ich hatte einfach keinen Nerv mehr auf Alex. Das ist schade, denn Mr. Peterson hätte ich gern näher kennengelernt. Much of the wit of The Universe Versus Alex Woods derives from our protagonist’s deadpan narrative voice. Both logical and naive, Alex is inadvertently funny and, like the narrator of Mark Haddon’s A Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night-Time, needs to explain everything in great detail. Appalled to think that his handshake might have been on the limp side when meeting the curator of the National History Museum, Alex grips him tightly on departing, so as not to “leave any doubt that the morning’s handshake had been an anomaly”. Likewise, it’s impossible to keep a straight face when he describes a conversation with an irritable Swiss hotel clerk in which Alex insists on speaking in his newly acquired German — “His slightly edgy disposition I put down to my over-zealous war-film accent.” Beneath this humour, though, lies unexpected emotional depth. So fluently entertaining and unflinching is Extence’s writing that it almost comes as a surprise to realise how moving Alex’s story really is.