Fighting The Hamburger Stand

I have read various novels this summer, from "The Glass Castle" to "Anna Karenina" (I'm pretty proud of that one) to "Eden's Outcasts". I have had many literary revelations and a lot of new words to mull over, but the most haunting and confounding discovery I have made this summer comes from an unlikely source, David Guterson's "The Other". I would describe this novel as a hybrid of "Into the Wild" and "A Separate Peace" (two of my all time favorites). It pairs the lonely transcendental journey of a confused young man with the story of a surprising and engaging friendship. I imagine that for readers who are no longer students, this novel "reminds them of their youth", making them nostalgic and maybe regretful. For me, someone who is right smack dab in the middle of her high school years, this novel is frightening and all too real. It exposes the conundrum of existence, whether to escape a backwards society, or become a part of it while retaining the illusion that your brand of existence is esoteric and "special" when in reality, you are still part of the hamburger stand. I guess what I am trying to say is that you need to read this book, because it will either awake within you a need to study that conundrum, or it will corroborate your given situation and make you feel like you are in the right. But even if you aren't searching for a meaningful novel or a philosophical solution, this is a well told and riveting piece of fiction that reads like reality, and you will certainly feel a part of Guterson's world.