Still Life With Tornado by A.S. King (2016)

Sarah is sixteen, and she is going through an early-life crisis. She stopped going to school, and is stuck on the idea that nothing that she does will ever be original. That she is trapped in a world of unoriginality. Her days are spent following the homeless artist on the corner around town, and switching buses for hours until she doesn’t know where she it. On one of her wandering days, she meets herself. The ten year old Sarah, whose family’s explosive trip to Mexico ended with her older brother moving to Oregon, never to return. Then Sarah in her early twenties show up, and Sarah in her forties. They all hold a little piece of present Sarah’s life that she’s trying to figure out, but none of them are offering any clear answers. She better figure it out quick, though, before her whole world falls apart.

I am a huge fan of A.S. King. When I was twelve, I first read one of her books, which was called Everybody Sees the Ants, which deserves five stars just based on the great title. In fact, all of her books have amazing titles. I have since read Please Ignore Vera Dietz, Ask the Passengers, Reality Boy, Glory O’Brian’s History of the Future, and now, Still Life With Tornado. A.S. King actually came to my library last year, and I can honestly say that she’s one of the coolest people I’ve ever met.

Currently, I am trying to write a book, and I would’ve said my writing’s pretty decent. That is, until I read this book.  Right away, I was shocked with how surreal and exceptional the writing was. To start off, the writing flows incredibly. There are so many ideas and themes in this book, and somehow, A.S. King managed to connect them all effortlessly. I also really liked the way it read. There is some dialogue in the book, but for the most part, Sarah’s thoughts are dictating the story. But, and her thought were confusing and erratic at some points, but it came together to be this very beautiful thing.

In the majority of the story, Julia goes through this crisis of finding what is original in the world. Basically, one day her art teacher tells her that nothing in the world will ever be original, which really sends Sarah down a dark path of wondering what’s the point for her to do anything if nothing is pure, and well, original. To be honest, I went through a miniature freak out when I really thought about this concept, and I think it could provoke a lot of readers to really think about every action they’re doing in their life. Concerning Sarah, even though she doesn’t think it, she is one of the most original people I have ever heard off. I actually thought she was really in touch with her life, and that her life was anything but original.

A couple weeks ago, A.S. King posted an article called “Why ‘Staying Together For The Kids’ Does More Harm Than Good”. At the time of reading it, I hadn’t read Still Life With Tornado, and didn’t see the connection between the two. A major theme is this book is exploring the impact that an abusive marriage has on the family. Now, I don’t know the state of A.S. King’s marriage. Not even a little. But, from her article, I did collect that she knew what it was like to be in an unhappy marriage, and saw how it affected her kids. I feel like her experience, whatever it was, made the marriage in the book a lot more realistic and heartbreaking. I also really appreciated that A.S. King communicated that it was never the victim’s fault in this situation, no matter what.

I was shocked when I read Still Life With Tornado. Never in my wildest dreams did I think any author was capable of this magic (besides Andrew Smith), and I am so excited to read I Crawl Through It very, very soon.