RIDE

A disaffected young man goes on a drug-fueled tear around small-town Ontario in Lafleche’s dark literary novel.

In the early 2000s, angst-ridden, misanthropic Troy Brinkman lives with his parents, refuses to talk to a therapist about his problems, and uses a variety of drugs in large quantities. He hates the way that gossip travels in his unnamed town; for example, after he accidentally stabs his friend in the leg while high on ketamine, everybody seems to know about it: “That’s all anybody ever wants: to live vicariously through other people’s stories,” he narrates. “Make it crazy, make it unreal, make it dangerous and everybody wants to talk about it.” When he learns that Danielle, his on-again, off-again girlfriend, is pregnant again, he agrees to take her to get another abortion. The memories kicked up by this trip lead Troy on a bender of extreme and violent proportions— he robs drug dealers, ruins friendships, and fills his system with whatever chemicals he can. As he self-destructs, he tells himself to just “enjoy the ride,” but that may be because he doesn’t realize the dark places that the ride will take him. Lafleche tells the story in Troy’s own voice—a caustic blend of casual slurs, teenage id, and affected nihilism—and the novel as a whole fits very well within the tradition of transgressive literature. However, it often feels as if the author is purposely pushing the story’s seedier elements past the limits of good taste and verisimilitude. Lafleche offers somewhat-sensational reasons why Troy is the way he is, which readers may not find suitably explanatory; one almost wishes that he hadn’t bothered, as they don’t really say very much about the character’s destructive and often horrifying choices. In the end, readers won’t come away with any kind of greater understanding of youth, addiction, or the human condition.

An intense but contrived look at a bad young man.