I have two small quibbles with the book. The first is with its shifting point of view. The story began with Andy telling the story in first person. Thus, I thought the story would be about Jones as seen through Andy’s eyes. But in the next section, Andrews shifted to third person point of view with Andy completely out of the picture. After that, he went back and forth with Andy telling some parts and not others. I found it a little disorienting.
(As a side note, it’s interesting that Andrews uses his own name, “Andy,” in the first-person sections. It left me with the question – did this or some facsimile of it really happen? Or did he use his name as a literary device to make the story feel believable?)
The second quibble is with the book’s message. Though it’s excellent and provides lots of food for thought and discussion, I felt it left out one of the main aspects of perspective. There is little mention of the possibility of a relationship with God and how that impacts one’s perspective. Perhaps the omission was intentional in hopes that a book which didn’t take a theological position would appeal to a wider range of readers. However, that oversight made the book seem incomplete to me.
The sturdy hardcover edition comes complete with a Reader’s Guide at the back, making The Noticer an excellent book club choice.
All in all, this little volume packs a big punch. Its wisdom-filled pages will ensure that you’ll not only read it but find yourself referring to and quoting from it later. Hopefully, it will make a permanent impact on your perspective – as I believe it has on mine.
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