Comments on "Lost Boys" by Orson Scott Card

I decided to read OSC's primary foray into regular-life fiction (that is, as opposed to science fiction) with explicitly Mormon characters because I'd found a lot of chatter in the bloggernacle about Mormon fiction, and OSC is the only thing available at the Cambridge Public Library.

A lot of the comments I have read about "Lost Boys" say that although the characters are round and real, most of the book is just recounting the tedious events of the life of a typical Mormon family. And I suppose that's true. When you know that it's autobiographical (as I learned only after finishing it), that makes a lot more sense. But then it's interesting that Card would choose to inflict upon his own family such a supernatural tragedy as this book contains.

The theme running pervasively throughout the narrative is the attempts of the parents to keep their children safe. They promise over and over that they will protect them, but over and over, in many ways, they learn they are unable to do so. Bugs swarm into the house. Their fourth child is born with cerebral palsy. Stevie's teacher joins the mean children in picking on him. Sister LeSeur receives revelations on their behalf. And, of course, the final climax entails the ultimate failure to keep your child safe, despite your best efforts.

I think maybe the message Card is getting at (or at least a message that I got from reading the book) is that no matter what we do to protect our children or ourselves, we can never be entirely safe. There are evil people in the world. Natural occurrences can throw us off. And in the end, Stevie's mom's advice to him at the beginning of the book turns out to be the best advice of all: You should always follow what the Spirit tells you to do, no matter what your parents have told you. Your Heavenly Father is also looking out for you and is concerned about your safety. But sometimes, as we learn at the end of the story, God's priority isn't keeping his children physically safe. Sometimes bringing about good, as Stevie did, requires taking physical risks. Sometimes even losing them.

I'm being cryptic about the plot so as not to spoil the story for anyone who may want to read it; I recommend that you do--especially if you are LDS. Probably the best thing I can say about it is that it was difficult to put down (I read it cover to cover in less than three days, thanks to a week off of school), and after I was finished, I couldn't get it out of my head. I think it even figured into my dreams. I'll probably be pondering this book for a long time. And I look forward to that.