this book both changed my life and made me realize the true horror of existence. Smelvin is honestly Keith's magnum opus; the writing is impeccable, the pacing is great and all round it's a masterpiece in story telling for children. This comes at a price, though. Reading this book made me feel empty. We all will be forgotten one day. And you can only get one chance at life. So why bother? Some might say that we should pursue hedonistic desires in order to maximize pleasure on this cruel earth but what's the good in that if we account for the inevitability of our mental and physical destruction? My aunt has told me for decades now that I'm going nowhere by pondering things like this; that I am slipping into a state of self loathing and nihilism, but there is truth out there. I just have to see it. And one day, when she is drinking her stupid rosemary flavored tea with lemons in it I'll just walk right in and tell her why she's wrong. So, so ,so SO W RONG. Melvi.n is 10/10, I would reccomend .