Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Set on a small and struggling family dairy operation in southern Minnesota, The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen follows fifteen-year-old Carl as he confronts his crush on Andy Olnan, a handsome and confident but secretive “city boy” recently transplanted to farm life from Minneapolis who may or may not share the same feelings.

At the same time, Carl and his father clash over the future of their farm, a legacy of Carl's late mother: how do they honor her dream for the family while also ensuring financial security? Carl discovers his own resilience in the face of grief, adult-sized decisions, and unrequited love, and along the way learns to cope with both the challenges and rewards of being different.

Winner of the 2020 Acheven Book Prize for Young Adult Fiction

Book Review

Ever thought “Gee, I think I’ll write a novel?” Forget about it! Witness ‘The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulson’ which took Gary Eldon Peter several years, was issued in several pieces, was produced through the aid of many writers’ residencies. The published novel generously contains several short critical encomiums which, I suppose, when being examined in a bookstore (remember those?) might encourage a final purchase. Of course, you can read this review and just trust me that a purchase will be well worth it.

 

The voice of this novel seems, certainly in the beginning, to float between that of an adult’s partial look-back and a teenager’s recognition of his current life – eventually nicely settling into the latter. While television, lots of instant communication sites and such erroneously have asserted that the world centers around big cities and popular media, Carl, the hero, is a citizen of a very rural community in middle America – seemingly noted for a population of small, clean-minded citizens. The novel presents a social travelogue of an old-fashioned, unsophisticated place – one many of us contemplate as being long gone!

 

Realize that childhood can be terribly hard, as children face difficulties for which they have no adequate preparation. Carl often sees himself as a loser – bright and sensitive but about to face life’s big issues. As a high school student and the son of a widowed dairy farmer, Carl’s daily tasks seem overwhelming, especially given their incipient financial and familial hardships. He misses his late mother, wishing she were still there with whom to talk. (These remembrances add up to Carl’s constant feeling of leavings, changings.) Add in Carl being gay, and his life is really complicated.

 

Carl, as many of us, self-educates about being gay, reading articles and keeping his ears open – all in anticipation of finally having “the Talk” with his father, and coming out. How do young boys learn about these things? Jokes, secret reading, correct or incorrect exchange with contemporaries? How much more problematic it all is when you are gay, and thus a member of a group addressed by dangerously derogatory terms. Welcome to the closet, Carl!

 

Along comes Andy Olnan, an attractive new student exuding coolness and stirring Carl’s libido. Carl expects Andy to move “way beyond me into the upper echelon. He was too, well, beautiful for that not to happen.” Nonetheless, despite Andy’s somewhat mysterious background – and archetypal religious conservative family – they become friends. Carl truly believes that, in his future, he will find his “another,” with whom\there would be less fear in his life. Could that be Andy?

 

Gary Eldon Peter’s ‘The Complicated Calculus (and Cows)’ is a terrific read – for so many ages. Are we ever too old to forget our first romantic feelings, our initial sexual experiences? Puberty is an astounding episode, often sneaking up on young men without girls’ parallel announcement in the form of menses. But, even before the physical changes, there are the seeds of friendship, admiration, attraction and, yes, incipient lust – all plant within us to be hormonally fertilized.

 

I’ll forgo the usual temptation to over-quote for the mere joy of sharing: rather, read the fine book!

 

End Notes:

 

1. The book proceeds to develop the main character’s relationship almost as if a tone poem, with typical teenaged changeable feelings being reflective of the background and understandings which the individual reader brings to the task.

 

2. While the novel may be deemed (correctly) suitable for youthful readers, as well as the general reading public, once again it should be noted that the book’s theme of coming out is almost often a never-ending process – needing to be repeated with new acquaintances, novel circumstances, and even as an exercise in pride.

 

3. The author, quite finely, presents parental cancer and loss from the view of a young son – with understanding and a touching approach.

 

4. Are the cows metaphorical of life? Indicative of the novel’s moral? Bringing them in from the field – “It’s almost the same one who want to be first and the same ones who like to be coaxed. Cows like order, predictability, structure… like people.”

 

Moo!

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the author for the purpose of a review.

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novella, 164 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	05-July-2022
Price	$8.99 ebook, $16.95 paperback
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Complicated-Calculus-Cows-Carl-Paulsen-ebook/dp/B09C7J6K6L