5 Reasons Why You Should Read Tom Perrotta's "The Leftovers"

Written By: Franziska Beck

As Missy already mentioned in her "The Perfect Guide To Being A Leftovers' Fan" article, you should pick up a copy of Tom Perrotta's book "The Leftovers" and read it. Or listen to the audio book if you aren't much of a reader. You might think: "But I've already seen the show. I know what happens to Nora, Matt, Patti and the Garveys." Well, you're wrong. Let me try to convince you with my five reasons why you should read the book!

I read the book after watching season one and before starting season two of the show. So I know exactly what it's like to watch the show first and then read the book. Which basically makes me an expert! (I'm just kidding. Or am I?)
[Please be aware of mild TV show spoilers!]

1) Kevin Is The Mayor • In my opinion Justin Theroux as Chief Kevin Garvey was an amazing casting choice for the TV show. But imagine this Kevin with better negotiation skills, way more money and less dating skills: Meet Mayor Kevin Garvey!
It's amazing to experience this character in a position that is basically the complete opposite of his job as the police. On the show, Kevin tends to pick fights and arguments with Mayor Lucy Warburton, and doesn't seem to be much of a social butterfly. He seems pretty isolated and mostly confused all the time. Just like the recurring stag, walking around on its own and blinded by the headlights of oncoming traffic. The confusion is still a part of book Kevin's personality, but as a successful and wealthy business man he has reached some sort of celebrity status in Mapleton and has an affinity for team sports. To see this version thrown into the same world with the same or similar events happening, feels like watching a familiar stranger.

2) Characters And Events Are Missing Or Different • Wait, why is this a good thing? Why would I be excited about characters not being in the book? Well, let me explain.
Some characters in the series were written into the story to add more of an air of mystery to it - which just screams "Damon Lindelof". When you're reading the book you will be surprised by how different some of the characters are. I didn't see so many of the twists in the book coming because they weren't in the series at all or they changed them a lot.
If you're one of the people who thinks that the adaption should be as close to the book as possible you might not appreciate the changes but I feel like everything they changed can be justified with good reasons. Trust me. Most of the time I'm way too elitist in that aspect and even I was excited about the changes. And the beautiful thing is that TV show and book can coexist without one being better than the other. Of course you can have preferences but both have their very own appeal.

3) The Writing • Tom Perrotta managed to create a mystery in his book that you want to solve at first but then you slowly get to a place where you just accept it as a puzzle you might never be able to solve, without ever letting you forget that it's still an essential part of the characters' lives which basically puts you in the same position as the characters. The author is basically taking the position of the Guilty Remnant and doesn't let us forget the Sudden Departure. Or Rapture. Maybe alien abduction. Erased from history by time travelers. (Considering the fact that the Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, is living in Mapleton the last theory might actually be true.)

4) The Backstories • On the show we don't actually get a lot of information about the cults that formed after October 14th. We get a bit of insight into the Guilty Remnant but before reading the book, I didn't really get their beliefs. After reading the book, I feel like I finally know where they're coming from, or where they came from. The same goes for Holy Wayne and the Barefoot People. Since Wayne was a big part of Tom's story in season one, we got bits and pieces thrown at us that explained what the movement was all about but we didn't really learn why exactly Tom joined it.
Being able to take a look into Laurie's head was great, too. As well as being able to understand how Emo-Jill sees and experiences the world. The book allows you to get to know the characters even better even though they are slightly different versions.

5) The Ending • Don't worry, I won't spoil anything for you. The ending of the book surprised me, even if the characters ended up in a completely different place, or somehow managed to find each other despite the differences in their personalities and the events that happened.
Even though it was a rather open ending for most characters I didn't feel like I needed to continue the journey with them. I wouldn't have minded, but I finished the book feeling satisfied and content.

Did I manage to convince you to read the book? Tell me in the comments!

If you haven't see the show yet, you should change that immediately! If you need to be convinced, here are 5 Reasons Why You Should Watch "The Leftovers":

Do you want more chat about The Leftovers? Get your fix by listening to The Living Reminders Podcast with detailed show discussion and amazing interviews with cast, crew, writers and directors of The Leftovers on HBO.