Firmin by Sam Savage

…Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife

The book is set in 1960’s Boston in an urban area that is scheduled for regeneration. The novel is narrated by Fermin, a rat who lives in the basement of a run down bookstore. Fermin was the runt of the litter and always last in line to get food. In order to stay alive he start nibbling on the books in the shop. After a while he gains the ability to read. He thinks and sounds more like a human than a rat. At the begining of the novel if I hadn’t already know in advance that I wouldn’t have realised he was a rat.
Firmin is a gallant soul who is gifted and wise. He is shunned by his fellow rats and makes plans to befriend the bookseller. In addition to reading books Firmin has a fondness of the local picture house where he views what he calls his lovelies on the big screen.

The book is very philosophical and has well drawn characters, and Fermin is quite charming. The book is interspersed with pictures of characters and events that Fermin encounters along the way, I found these quite charming. Before each chapter there were also pictures of book covers these didn’t really add a lot for me.

I really enjoyed the book and found it quite a page turner.

Group Read – 3-star
Personal Read – 4-star