Review of “Larry”

[Favour Amarachi Mgbeoji]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "“Larry”" by Daisuke Ito.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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Larry, a very short story written by Daisuke Ito, follows the life and salvation of the main character, Larry, from a boy who uses a wheelchair to a minister of the gospel of Christ. Written in 24 episodes, the author describes a wholesome Christianity starring genuine love.

Larry, a boy in Ireland, suffers from an incurable disease that leaves him unable to walk. Depressed and despairing, Larry lies in tears until he hears a strange voice with a strange message for him. The next morning, Larry is miraculously healed and is able to walk. He finds his way to a church, and there he meets the pastor, Pastor Mike. Larry speaks to Pastor Mike and soon becomes a regular at the church. He meets Raymy, a missionary as well. Slowly, Larry begins to learn more about the Bible and the gospel that saved him. A message of doom comes to the church, followed soon after by a terrible earthquake that causes destruction. What would happen to the church? And what role does Larry have to play in all these?

What I liked most was the length of the book. It helped to prevent the book from getting boring and stale. I also liked how the author depicted Christianity in a pure and wholesome way, considering the amount of bad reputation the religion receives in the world generally. I think it will serve well as a true reminder to the readers of the true nature of Christianity and also as a correction of some misconceptions about Christianity.

I did notice a few negative aspects of the book, though. The characters seemed poorly developed. There was no backstory to almost all the characters. Larry just appeared suddenly, with no mention of any family or relatives or origin. Raymy and Pastor Mike also had no depth to their characters. They appeared. It seemed like some characters were just performing one role throughout the book till they disappeared. This made the characters not relatable at all to me, the reader. Also, the entire story was really skeletal and without flesh. It mostly centered around one place, the church, and the same set of persons. I think the author could do a lot more to make the book more real and relatable. I am particular about the characters.

I would give this book a rating of 3 out of 5 stars. I rated it like this because while I did not find the book particularly delightful, I still think it could be a great book. I think the book will be better if some changes are made. I also gained knowledge and clarification on Christianity from the book. Hence I could not give it a lower rating because of the positive aspects I mentioned above. Also, this book was professionally edited not minding that I found a few errors in it.

I would recommend this book to anyone that is desolate and in despair and needs a reminder of the power of the gospel of Christ. It would also appeal to anyone interested in gaining more insight into the true nature of Christianity, whether Christian or not.

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“Larry”
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