My book club book, that I didn’t read in time, was The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beaneath New York City, by Jennifer Toth. I finished it last night, after scarily reading it on the train for about half an hour. Mistake. Living in New York City brought more gravitas to a grave situation- on the train I kept thinking about the stories I’d read, the electrocutions, the violence and even the communities. And I looked out the train window and saw the very environment described in the book- and saw the third rail spark. This book seemed to romanticize the life certain homeless choose for themselves- a life of darkness by making homes in the tunnels. Though the problems of the tunnel homeless were analogous to the problems of all homeless, drugs, abuse, mental illness etc, one felt the tunnel homeless were worse off- their depression and hopelessness took them somewhere and kept them there. Despite their constant assurance that the tunnels meant freedom, I could not rationalize being trapped underground by your own state of mind with freedom.
The danger Toth recounts of her own experiences is moving, but is offset by the allegations made after her publication that the book contains false stories. Though the subject matter is interesting, Toth’s vocabulary and descriptive prose are both limited, leading to repetitive language and even explanations. I feel as though a better editor would have done more with the book- it seems unfinished somehow.
But the people (real or fictional) have interesting stories to tell, and I’m glad I read this book despite its stylistic issues. I felt as though this book had a definite bias and social agenda- and I tried to ignore it while absorbing the stories of everyday suffering in the tunnels.
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