Random Things Tours: Let´s Fly by Giles Fraser

´All I wanted - ever wanted in fact - is to love and be loved - and not to worry that it could be taken away. Simple as that´.

Set between 1979 and 2017, Giles Fraser´s debut Let´s Fly is a story of love and friendship, inspired by both the volatility of the end of the hippy years and the recent years of expansion of the online bubble. Both periods of time are characterized by a high mobility of both persons - elite-wise - and money, therefore are a good reservoir of literary inspiration.

The successful CEO of a dot.com business, Nick Hunter found himself overnight ´jobless, wifeless and homeless´. His source of income though was a successful song Let´s Fly that he sold as a young lad and as his career is about to crumble as a game of cards, the time has come to pay - at least - its debt of honour towards a past that he tried to avoid thinking about. 

The book starts in an alert pace, with short sentences and action verbs inducing the reader into a world of secrets and betrayal. The first pages are a succession of events and characters that will slow down in the next 100 pages, but from the very beginning one remains under the strong impression of an almosgt neverending run. On paper, the book description sounded appealing. Reading it was a much greater experience, as there are so many plot twists that create suspense and expectations. It starts as a cold shower of words and will continue like that until the end of the book. 

It is true that sometimes the plot is faster that the space allowed to the characters to develop, but you don´t feel it very often, as the succession of various episodes within the stories are complex enough to require a lot of attention. Personally, I was not such in awe with Nick Hunter, and I could not see him clearly either, but maybe he was just a man of his times. He is not the perfect vilain, but not the reliable character either, with more weaknesses than strengths. Human, oh so human. 

An important line of the story that made me think about a lot refered is a book-long meditation about success, especially of the unexpected type. and how it changes personalities and friendships. Also, at what extent when it is replaced by failure. Both the cultural realm and the start-up, online one do have a high probability of both and the human experience they create and mold belongs to our times and the type of personality represented by it. The book also finely catch up the inter-generational differences, including between the members of Nick´s family, aspects which confer a relatable social and political context. 

Let´s Fly was a thoughtful read with a creative plot. I enjoyed the time spent reading it for several good reasons and although I was lacking any empathy for most of the characters, it was a good intellectual experience that inspired me to think a lot about success and its enemies. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own