The Kari AnnAlysis

If you ever have wondered what goes on in the brain of a genius, we find out through Carrie Pilby. While some of our minds wander to dinner, laundry and the ever growing Christmas list, here’s what Carrie’s mind wanders to:

I use my extra time to think about a lot of things. I think about why, if the highest speed limit anywhere in the U.S. is seventy-five, they sell cars that can go up to one hundred fifty.

I think about whether the liquid inside a coconut should be called “milk” or “juice.”

I think about where there are Penn Stations in New York and Maryland but not in Pennsylvania.

Carrie was a child prodigy. She skipped three grades in school and went to college at 15. That’s where she thought she would fitl in, but after graduating at 19, she is now living in New York with no friends and no life beyond her list of oldie classic movies to go through and the comfort of her bed.

That all changes when her therapist gives her a list of goals.
1. List 10 things you love
2. Join an organization or club
3. Go on a date
4. Tell someone you care
5. Celebrate New Year’s Eve

So now, to prove she’s not a loser, Carrie has to accomplish these tasks, for herself and her doctor. But that means she has to step out of her comfort zone and possibly get out of the safety of being brainy.

On a very small level, I feel like I can relate to Carrie. Well, other than the fact that we have the same name. I’ve never been a brainiac, and I always studied extremely hard to get good grades. So that’s not really it. But, I feel like Carrie and I may have the same flight path for our thoughts; up in the air with our heads in the clouds.

At different points in the book, I had different feelings. At some times, I hated Carrie for being so judgemental of other people. She is smarter than most, but I didn’t like that she looked down on others because of it. But then, as I was at the gas station on Wednesday night, I did the exact same thing. So I guess we all go through that. But depending on our smarts, there is a smaller or larger group of people we feel that way about.

One of the things I liked most about this book were the little nuggets of literary knowledge that made me sit and think.

I guess if you don’t do drugs, and you don’t gorge yourself constantly, and you’re not in love, the one thing that’s left is hope. Hope that something more is out there. If you don’t have hope, that’s when the antidepressants come in.

And I think many will relate to this:

I think about how if I died in my apartment on the day after my appointment with Petrov, no one would notice for a week. My father might call and not get me, and try again, but it could take a few days for him to realize anything’s really wrong. I’ll be there are people in this world who couldn’t go a few hours without someone noticing they’re missing. And there are people who could die on Friday after work, and no one would notice until Monday. but for me, it would take an entire week. Perhaps that is how you gauge how much you are loved in the world — how long it would take people to notice that you are missing.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book, minus my quirks for Carrie. I feel like I grew as a person by reading it. I feel a little deeper. Who doesn’t love that feeling after finishing a book? I give Carrie Pilby 5 bookmarks.

ISBN: 978-0373250295
Re-released: July 1, 2010
Author Website
Kari got this book from NetGalley

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