I was extremely intrigued by this novel by Stephen King's quote on the back cover, “Imagine what might happen if Holden Caufield stepped into H. G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, and you’ll have an idea how good Fade is. . . . I was absolutely riveted.”
I don't know that I agree, Mr. King. But then again, I was terrorized by the movie image of "IT", so our disagreement could just be based on our difference tastes and interests.
Fade is the story of Paul Moreaux, an extremely curious young man who discovers he has been passed the ability to "fade" or make himself invisible down from his uncle. He becomes jaded of the world when he uses his ability to spy on neighbors, friends, and family. His vows to never use his ability again when he seemingly kills his younger brother. The novel diverts after his brother's death with the story of Paul's distant cousin, Susan, the story of Paul's estranged, abandoned, and abused nephew, Ozzie, and the story of Paul's adult life.
The largest problem I had with this novel was the unnecessary details/side stories. The young narrator finds his aunt irresistible and eventually considers her "the one who got away" and "the love of his life". A preteen girl has sex with a married, adult grocer for money. A set a seemingly perfect twins have an incestuous relationship while their rich parents party out of hearing. A twenty-something woman explores the truth of Paul's story after he is dead. Paul has to find the next relative who can "fade". The aforementioned relative, Ozzie, is taken over by an evil schizophrenic personality as a result of his ability to fade. Paul is forced to kill Ozzie and his evil schizophrenic personality. Why, oh why did the author chose to even include these stories??????!
One could argue that these details were important, added to the story, moved the plot along, etc. That simply is not true, in my perspective. Paul could have yearned for a teacher, co-worker at the grocery store, or any woman or girl in the community (the community was small enough that everyone knew everyone), but Corimer chose the cause of Paul's lust to be his Aunt Rosanna. I could deal with this though, as it could be said that a person does not chose who they love/lust after, especially a teenage boy who has yet to learn how to control his "urges". The grocer may have been the owner of the grocery store, but it was mentioned that this grocer had to lay-off Paul because of the low funds caused by the depression. So would this grocer really have the money to pay for prostitution? Or the time to do so? Wouldn't he be trying to say as much money as possible and spend as much time as he could trying to keep his grocery store running? Then there are the incestuous twins. The beauty is unrivaled, by Paul's descriptions, and yet, the twins chose each other. They have a driver who could take them any place at any time (because their parents are frequently absent) and they choose to stay at home and have sex. And what about school? The twins aren't "flowers in the attic", but two rich children who could get action from any peer they wanted, it seems. And why even create the characters of Susan and Ozzie if the novel is supposed to be young-adult fiction? Wouldn't the reader want to follow the main character. Paul, through his young adulthood? There are clear enough consequences of the fade for Paul, but the author questions whether the consequences were real or imagined out of guilt. Why question what you wrote previously? Why create a completely separate conflict about schizophrenia? Why make it seem as if mental illness can only be fixed by death?
Robert Corimer had a good story going with Paul's French-Canadian heritage and his insecurities about life and his identity (because his ability to fade, his heritage, his school, and the fact that he was a teen). Young adult readers could relate to the depression Paul must have felt after his younger brother died, but the author chose to completely skip over this aspect of Paul's life. Paul is about to go to a high school and have a brand-new experience, similar to that of many young adult readers and Corimer chose not to write about this part of Paul's life either. How did Paul resist the urge to use the fade through his terrible teens? When did he really want to fade but couldn't make himself do it? How did Paul deal with the aftermath of the murder he committed? Did he feel guilty? Did he lust for more? How does Paul deal with all of the things life has thrown at him and get through them into adulthood?
Or if the author wanted to explore other young adult characters, he could have written about any of Paul's four remaining siblings or Paul's friends. If the author chose to keep the incestuous twins, what would they do if/when they found out their actions are deemed immoral by society? What happens when one twin falls in love but the other is still pining for further incestuous acts? Or the preteen prostitute? What has happened in her life that forces her to such extreme behavior?
I did not wholly dislike this book, but I am 22 years old and no longer a teen. I must say that I would not recommend this book as a piece of rich young adult literature. The only format I could see myself teaching this book in is in excerpts. There are many fantastic passages of teenage struggle which are simply dampened by the extra, unnecessary details of the book. If the author chose to further expand on the basic teen struggles which are already in place in Fade, the book's merits would rise significantly in my view.
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