The Invoice

The Synopsis
The main character, well, we never learn his name. But we do learn that while he lives a very simple, minimalistic life, he is happy. Working part time at a movie rental store (our main character loves movies), watching movies, talking with one friend that he has known most of his life. Well, there isn’t anything out of the ordinary. Until one day he received an invoice. A very large invoice. Playing it off as a mistake, he doesn’t think much of it. And then he realizes that others are talking about invoices. Then he receives another invoice — with interest. What is this about? He contacts the company and we spend the rest of the book trying to figure out along with him what is going on. In a world where everything has a price, one must become reflective — what was so great about my life that it would end up costing this much?

The Review
I really enjoyed this book. When I finished it initially, I gave it four stars on Goodreads. I kept the score on here but having had a few more days to mull it over, I would probably give it closer to 3.5 stars. The premise is interesting, the writing is great. But…there is something missing.

I enjoyed the layout of this book. I enjoyed learning about the character and his past through, in a sense, inventory of his life when he is discussing his bill with the company. I enjoyed the other characters, as little as they truly appear. And I really enjoyed his relationship with Maud, the customer service representative that he talks to throughout the book. I even enjoyed the main character not having a name — and I didn’t think I would.

However, I found the book to be lacking. While interesting and a fun read, once I was done, I felt like it just…ended. I could have easily read more and been happy. The quick read felt more like a short story. I would have been happy to have had more characters to read about and see the different stories they all had to tell. I really enjoyed the psychological take on this, discussing how one copes with life and how one perceives things affects their happiness. ( )

This book should have been a quick read as it's a small novel and not very much happens inside. However, it took me forever to finish it, and eventually I had to kind of speed read just to get it over with. The plot is supposed to be thought-provoking, but instead it's merely a silly, monotonous tale about the most insipid character on Earth. This book put me to sleep plenty of times. In the end, the payoff wasn't worth the boring experience. ( )

The Invoice is a quick but thought productive novel. It follows the story of a nameless young man who suddenly recieves a large bill for the life he has lived. But could this bill be correct? Could such a simple life be so costly? It makes you think about how much the little things add up in a sense, about how much your life is worth. ( )

Happiness. How much is it worth to you? An interesting take on the value of life. The author had a great idea and he really tried to bring across this existential idea of the value of happiness.

The author unfurls the idea through the mundane life of a video store clerk: what events in our life can make us happy or not and what can it be worth? Love, death, mediocrity. And then how do we measure those awful things in life that may result in a positive outcome?

Again very interesting but I think the author just missed something extra. I can't really put my finger on it although parts of the book were rather slow and other parts could be fleshed out more.

Even as slow as it read, it made me think about perception or mindset of happiness. Isnt that what books are aimed to do?

A special thanks to Library Thing Early Reviewers for a copy of this book in lieu of an honest review. ( )

You know, there was just something about this one that really propelled me to keep reading. Even though you never get a full, clear explanation of exactly what's going on, it's easy to figure things out from context. I wanted to know what would happen with that exorbitant invoice and I found the conclusion very satisfactory. Definitely enjoyed this one.

I received an advance reader's copy as part of LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. ( )