Book Review: Trash (Andy Mulligan)

Raphael is a dumpsite boy. He spends his days wading through mountains of steaming trash, sifting it, sorting it, breathing it, sleeping next to it. Then one unlucky-lucky day, Raphael's world turns upside down. A small leather bag falls into his hands. It's a bag of clues. It's a bag of hope. It's a bag that will change everything.

Even before I read Trash, I knew it will be one of those book that has a strong, immediate connection to me. As a child, I often spent my summer holidays in Manila, where the plot was loosely based. While reading, I came to find out just how much the characters, language and particularly the setting reminded me of the Philippines. But it is not its mere familiarity that made me love this book, it's the way the plot is reminiscent of some of the ugly reality in many, many places, and the brutal honesty in which this fact is presented.

The three characters, Raphael, Gardo and Rat, predominantly tell the story, although in certain key chapters other characters add their own input. The criss-crossing of narratives present different viewpoints which only adds to the magnetism of the whole book. These various point of views gives a broader viewpoint, I think, and allows the narrative to encompass a larger picture to drive home the plot.

I love these three boys - there is something about a child's voice that really captures my heart, but hearing their story is something beyond that. They have suffered so much from the cruel reality and their innocence is so tainted by the harsh world they were born in that each of their words seem too precious to not take to heart. Their excitement and despair is full of that powerful voice that I wanted to sweep them three into one warm hug and hope that that somehow brings enough comfort. I think that holds true in many readers and indeed makes one wonder that if these characters can hold one's heart, then what more the real children living in and with trash at the other side of the world?

Interestingly, many view Trash as a dystopian novel - but I beg to disagree. How can it be a futuristic novel when there are children living, eating, breathing trash? When there is widespread corruption by officials high and low and inhumane abuses in the hands of those who are supposed to protect? When children like Raphael, Gardo and Rat barely survive the next dawn and are in constant danger of dying a cruel, cruel death - of famine, war and diseases? No, Trash is not a dystopian novel. It's a moving, poignant novel about the here and the now. It's a story of the ugly reality.

There was the minor glitch of me not feeling wholly satisfied by the ending. It does not seem to fit well with the plot, although it still makes sense. I will not go into further details for fear of spoilers, but after reading, I wished the ending was a little less smooth and a little more thrilling.

Regardless, Trash is a book everyone should read. I mean it - everyone! No one can read this and say he (or she) did not take anything away from it. Andy Mulligan's Trash is one of those books that shows a picture of exactly how life is in places we don't know, but we should care about.

Four Stars.


* Copy received for review. Thanks to Lauren @ RHCB!