Isabel Waidner’s newest novel, As If, follows the lives of two men who look similar but couldn’t be more different. Lewis and Korine’s lives, though only loosely connected, are irrevocably tied together in ways you wouldn’t expect.
Having attended the same school, having wives of the same name, and being all but identical in appearance, they are the perfect candidates for an experiment in swapping places. The characters essentially trade lives, acting and playing the parts of the other, while learning more about themselves. Getting out of their mundane routines allows Lewis and Korine to see how their lives are making them unhappy and what they are lacking within themselves. It appears that the other has the ideal life, and by switching and living in those shoes, they are better able to sort out what they want from life.
Waidner manages to fit a lot of plot and character exploration into a rather small book. Thinking of ‘The Great Novel’ brings up images of long passages, tiresome emotional journeys, and an intimidating number of pages.
As If is the exception. What it lacks in word count, it makes up for in emotion. It’s short, poignant, and gripping; a story that will leave you feeling slightly confused but deeply moved. It is very easy to fall into the lives of Lewis and Korine and to see their world alongside them.
The line between both men gets more and more blurred as the story goes on. It is at times quite hard to keep up, and I think more analysis of their lives and personalities would have added better context to the plot. Who the characters are is well laid out, but the plot would have benefited from more details about why they are the way they are.
The dual perspective allows the reader to look at the months laid out in the book from different angles. It brings up a parallel feeling, in the sense that while the character is trying to wade through their feelings and solve problems, you, as the reader, are as well. There is a connection to the characters that comes from a place of extensive knowledge on how people operate and what makes personalities so individual and unique.
The book, and the prose in it, was beautifully written and emotionally perceptive with an intentional emphasis on exploring the human condition. That exploration led Waidner to create an imaginative and very unique world that is relatable and realistic, while also being abstract and symbolic. Trying to facilitate that level of complex narrative within such tight parameters is a risk, but As If pulls it off.
Words by Gracyn Gilliam
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