Please Ignore Vera Dietz

 

MINOR SPOILERS

Please Ignore Vera Dietz Review

A. S. King’s Please Ignore Vera Dietz is a book that delves into the complex life of the titular character, Vera Dietz, as she grapples with the death of her best friend, Charlie Kahn. King uses non-linear storytelling in order to show the depth of Vera’s relationships with Charlie and her father, who is worried about her living irresponsibly in relation to boys and alcohol. As one of the only people to know the truth about the situation surrounding Charlie’s death, Vera must move past her mental hang ups in order to clear his name of something not revealed until late in the novel. 

Charlie’s spirit is an amazing guiding force for Vera’s development and the story as a whole. As Vera copes with her grief, she reveals to readers her vulnerability and strengths as she also finds them for herself. Vera’s change from a nonchalant, timid mess into a more confident and more emotionally stable person is primarily driven by her visions of Charlie’s spirit. Charlie guides her through her character arc by interacting with the world around her in little ways, from writing on windows, to siccing the police on Vera and her adult boyfriend, James. Vera is forced to deal with how Charlie still impacts her life, and his pestering her to clear his name is what eventually causes her to change. Vera is often confused or actively upset with Charlie’s guidance, especially when it’s inconveniencing her, but she begins to accept it when she says, “I want to scream at him, ‘Jesus, Charlie! Will you just wait until I’m done with what

I’m doing?’ And as frustrated and freaked out as I am, I’m laughing a little. I’m laughing because Charlie is as hysterically impatient in death as he was in real life. I must be truly ready if I’m laughing at this” (King 222). This is a very very cool way to have Vera change and appease Charlie while simultaneously moving past her grief of his death. Charlie’s interactions with the living world are always exciting and fun, and even when they don’t end well for Vera, Charlie is pushing her in the right direction.

The non-linear storytelling and multiple perspectives in the book add a lot to the quality as well. Telling the story in both flashbacks and present day moments allows for suspense to be built and more information to be withheld until it is needed. For instance, Vera mentions clearing Charlie’s name right at the beginning of the novel, but that is not explained until much later, with the use of flashbacks every few chapters. This gets rid of loaded exposition, and keeps whatever Charlie supposedly did shrouded in an appropriate mystery, which made me all the more engaged. Furthermore, the different perspectives of Vera’s dad, Charlie, and even the pagoda in town are such a creative way to give insight into how other characters think and it adds another layer of depth to the novel and its themes, such as ignoring problems, and coping. My favorite alternate narrator is Ken Dietz, Vera’s father. Their relationship and how it grows is one of the main storylines of the novel, and presenting Ken’s life and the way he thinks, prior to their father daughter therapy sessions, helps make him more relatable and likable, while still presenting Vera’s resentment of him. Ken cares about Vera, she just can’t understand why he parents the way he does, he says “She has no idea what it means to be me. She has no idea that when she came in the house, stinking of liquor, part of me wanted to hop off this seventeen-year-old wagon and tap into her veins to suck out the booze. In one way, I hope she never understands this. In another way, I wish she’d look beyond herself once in a while. But that’s a side effect of alcohol, isn’t it? Stopping to think about other people is not on the bar menu.” (100). Ken’s life has shaped his perspective on how to raise Vera. The parts of the novel that he narrates let us understand their relationship more than if we only saw it from Vera’s perspective. Vera’s resentment still makes sense, and both sides of their conflict can be clearly understood.

This novel is excellent, the characters are interesting and the plot is engaging with its incredible storytelling. I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone. It has a great message about moving on, and facing your problems, and it’s very heartwarming when it comes to the character relationships. I’m a big fan of this one.