Leonard and Hungry Paul – Rónán Hession (2019)

A few months ago, I began to see a lot of love on Twitter and book blogs for a debut novel with the intriguing title of Leonard and Hungry Paul. I treated myself to a copy and it has been sitting unread on the shelf ever since. It turned out to be the perfect read for the start of this month, as I struggle with an attack of sciatica.

This was the kind of modern novel that I like, and don’t come across as often as I would like. It’s a novel that isn’t packed with incidence, and the fact it is seriously lacking in drama is exactly what makes it so good. It’s a fairly simple story about friendship, about the ordinary uncelebrated people in the world who are capable of changing everything for someone, in small, quiet ways. Leonard and his best friend Hungry Paul see the world a little differently to many of the people around them, united by their own brand of humour, their love of board games and fascinated by facts. They each have an appreciation for things that are special in the world, that other people perhaps ignore.

Leonard is a quiet thirtysomething who has spent his whole life living with his beloved mother. Leonard writes for children’s encyclopaedias, still as fascinated as he ever was by facts, he wants to pass them on to modern children, to light the little fires in their minds, that were once lit in him. He really wants to write his own book, that would appear under his own name, and present the facts he loves, his way. Leonard works in a big shared office but doesn’t really know any of the people around him. When his mother dies, Leonard is left alone in the home they shared, he is lonely, she has left an enormous hole in his life. Leonard has little idea about how to conduct any other kind of relationship, and he rather likes the idea of having a girlfriend.

Like Leonard, Hungry Paul isn’t always in tune with the twenty-first century, he lives with his parents Helen and Peter in their family home; Parley View. He works as a substitute postman just once a week, doesn’t own a mobile phone, and fully appreciates the beauty of silence. His sister Grace is a highflyer, living with her fiancé Andrew, she’s on the phone nightly to her mother talking about the upcoming wedding, for which Hungry Paul has been instructed to buy a suit – it’ll be the first he has owned. Leonard and Hungry Paul’s friendship is a gentle friendship built on a special affinity, an understanding of one another and a love of board games. They spend long evenings sat over old board games and eating biscuits in the kitchen at Parley View while Helen and Peter watch University Challenge. The two friends discuss everything, they are honest with each other – and each of them always interested in what the other has to say.

‘The figure in Munch’s painting isn’t actually screaming!’ Hungry Paul said. ‘Really, are you sure?’ Replied Leonard. ‘Absolutely. That’s the whole thing. The figure is actually closing his ears to block out a scream. Isn’t that amazing? A painting can be so misunderstood and still become so famous.’

Two friends who don’t always fit into the modern world’s idea of men in their thirties, negotiate the pitfalls of the twenty-first century. Hungry Paul buys the suit for his sister’s wedding, with Leonard’s help. Leonard meets a young woman called Shelley at the office; she has a son who loves the books he ghost-writes, inspiring him to start his own book. Leonard doesn’t always understand the things people say and what they mean – finds it hard to pick up the cues that should tell him how to act. He finds negotiating his way through getting to know Shelley something of a minefield.

Helen persuades Hungry Paul into volunteering as a hospital visitor, he’s not keen initially – he doesn’t really excel in small talk like his mother. He enters a competition run by the chamber of commerce to come up with a phrase to sign off business emails with. With her wedding on the horizon Grace starts to wonder about the future, and what her brother is going to do! She loves her brother very much but worries that her parents would really like to downsize the family home and do some travelling but that they are being prevented by the presence of their adult son, who doesn’t even have a proper job.

“There’s no point planning for what you’re trying to plan for. I know that, more than anything, you would like me to see the world your way, to wake up to your way of looking at things and to become the version of myself that you’re most comfortable with.”

Hungry Paul doesn’t think like his sister, and she has forgotten to take that into account. Never happier than when embraced by quiet – it is this very silence that in time will be key to Hungry Paul’s burgeoning independence, which he sets about very quietly, staying true to himself.

This is a wonderful novel, heart warming with a quiet wisdom. It is a gentle celebration of friendship, that introduces us to characters that it is a pleasure to spend time with.