Book 648: Honestly Ben – Bill Konigsberg

This one was pretty forgettable for me, which is sad because it’s actually a good book. I think the problem is that I read Openly Straight, basically the first half of this book/story a little over five years ago. If I would’ve read these back to back I would’ve probably had much stronger feelings about this one.

Let’s start with what didn’t work: the swimming analogy. The book opens with Ben, the protagonist, going to swimming lessons for the first time and sinking to the bottom of the pool. Konigsberg uses this as a very clunky metaphor for Ben’s life and thoughts at the start of the book. I was honestly hoping it wouldn’t resurface at the end of the book—which isn’t totally fair because I would’ve been more pissed if he didn’t complete the metaphor—but it did and it just made me sigh and shake my head.

What worked really well, for me at least, was Ben, the character. The confusion, lack of clarity, the conflict, it all worked and Konigsberg wrote it really well.

“As I opened the car door and stepped back into the chilly night, I was thinking that maybe the key to life is to have goldfish memories. So you can’t remember the time a friend hurt you. So you can give second and third and even forth chances. To yourself too. Because sometimes it takes multiple chances to get things fully right, to put your universe in order.” (183)

“Okay, you see, most people in the world take paths that are expected. The world would like it better if we didn’t take these paths, because the world doesn’t know what to do with people who buck the system, or explore things that are new. I’m on a left-handed path. So is Rafe. Albie too, even, because I’m pretty sure he’s asexual, and that’s definitely left handed. You, I’m not so sure about. You had the thing with Rafe, but having a girlfriend and, like, being baseball captain of the universe is pretty right-handed.” (194)

The fact this was a continuation of a previous story (seriously, not really even a second book but more like the second half of one book) worked against this. I vaguely remembered most of the minor characters, which is sad, because Albie seems great and even a few of the others that stood out. Hannah, the female protagonist and potential love interest, seemed a little one-dimensional the further we got into the story. She was this bad ass when she met Ben, but all of a sudden is a crying heap without the caustic wit that first drew her and Ben together.

Recommendation: I’d probably would’ve enjoyed this so much more if I read it back-to-back with Openly Straight. If you haven’t read that yet, or it’s been a long time read it first. This one was cute and had some great thoughts on avoiding labels or creating your own, but they don’t really make sense when you’re only reading half the story. I really appreciated the non-binary character and the throw away reference to Two Boys Kissing.

Opening Line: “According to the swim instructor at the Gilford gym, I had the worst buoyancy of any human he’d ever seen.”

Closing Line: “He helped, but I was the one who figured out how to swim my heavy body to safety.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Additional Quote from Honestly, Ben
“When you’re a big guy, people just assume you fit in. They assume you run things, that you’re in control, that you know what to do. I’ve noticed that if I don’t say anything, people will continue to assume these things about me. Because I am athletic, because I have broad shoulders—farm work, by the way, not the gym—other guys salute me wherever I go. I get reverential nods.” (20)