Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock

By: Matthew Quick

Narrated by: Noah Galvin

In addition to the P-38, there are four gifts, one for each of my friends. I want to say good-bye to them properly. I want to give them each something to remember me by. To let them know I really cared about them and I'm sorry I couldn't be more than I was--that I couldn't stick around--and that what's going to happen today isn't their fault.Today is Leonard Peacock's birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather's P-38 pistol.
But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart--obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school's class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches.
In this riveting book, acclaimed author Matthew Quick unflinchingly examines the impossible choices that must be made--and the light in us all that never goes out.

So good, I hope there's never a movie version

Where does Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best

What was one of the most memorable moments of Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock?

The big reveal of the character's main motivation

What does Noah Galvin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Noah Galvin gave Leonard just the right amount of naivete and depth. It was enchanting

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I actually pulled the car over so I could listen to the ending.

Any additional comments?

This book was thoughtful and enchanting. Leonard was so sweet and wounded I wanted to go out and hug every lost teenager I see. But that would be creepy.

Cpruss

I really enjoyed the narrator. The story was good. Very believable. I would read another book by the same author.

Unashamed and Gripping

Quick doesn’t shy away from taboo or uncomfortable topics. It was one of my favorite things about “Silver Linings Playbook” and I’m happy to see it in this, my second book of his.

Modern day Holden Caulfield with lots of F-bombs

Never having been a fan of The Catcher in the Rye, I found this book mellow dramatic. That being said, I think a lot of angsty teens who are not sure where they fit in will identify with Leonard. The message of it came across as very open-ended, though, so don't expect many answers. But I liked that. It's not neatly wrapped and tied with a bow. My least favorite part (although it was funny) was the cliché description of Christians. I think the author was attempting to describe Baptists or Pentecostals but then he would describe them to sound like Catholic or Presbyterians or Methodists. It was confusing. But one thing is for sure, I have NEVER met Christians such as these. It was utterly ridiculous. However, if it was meant to come off as Leonard's Atheistic view of how they SEEMED after first meeting them, then I can possibly understand that. But I guess that wasn't the point - it was just confusing/funny/annoying so I thought I'd mention it. :)

A Sophisticated, Powerful Listen

I loved Matthew Quick’s Silver Lining’s Playbook so I’ve been eager to read his latest book, Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock. Quick taught high school so is someone who has a lot of experience working with teens, and that comes through in this book. It reads very real, and makes you think about how you could make a difference in someone’s life that needs you.

As you can probably tell, this is not an easy read, though very topical. Leonard is sad and angry, and feels invisible and like there’s nothing to look forward to. The 24-hour style of the book makes the story feel even more intense. I was constantly on edge and worrying over Leonard’s fate throughout the book.

Through flashbacks we get to see the factors that figured into Leonard’s decision to take his life. We meet the four people that Leonard considered goodbye worthy: Walt, Leonard’s elderly neighbor who introduced him to Humphrey Bogart films, Baback, the violinist peer, Lauren, the homeschooled Christian, and Herr Silverman, the Holocaust class instructor. Leonard’s absent parents also figure into his state of mind, as well as the former best friend and murder target Asher, and their stories come to play as well.

The book does a good job of illustrating the portrait of a suicidal teen. Though he exhibits many signs you are supposed to notice in these cases, not many do. It’s heart-breaking to read about Leonard losing hope for the future too, because he sees so many depressed adults commuting in the morning, going to jobs that they hate. So, what does Leonard have to look forward to? He thinks “It gets better” is a joke. His observations about his adult “role models” really made me think.

I listened to the audiobook, read by Noah Galvin. Wow, Galvin does a great job getting into the mind of Leonard- he becomes the character. You can hear the hurt, anger, confusion, and sadness in his words. It’s hard to listen to the audiobook at times, because it does make the story hit home even more. I have a copy of the ARC to refer to, and I noticed after I listened to the book that the print version includes footnotes in the storytelling, around 70 footnotes or so. The audiobook incorporates the footnotes into the story seamlessly so you’d never know they existed stylistically. The narrative shifts between past and present, but it doesn’t get confusing in the audiobook. The only thing that threw me at first was the “letters from the future” though I think maybe that’s purposeful. Leonard is a powerful book made even more powerful in audio form.

I think this book will appeal to fans of The Perks of Being a Wallflower- it had a similar vibe to me. It’s a sophisticated read that I think readers of mature YA and literary fiction will appreciate. And with school shootings in the news and the topic of gun laws front and center, this book is very timely and discussion worthy. A worthwhile read that I couldn’t put down.