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sexton_blake's review
4.0
This has the reputation of being the most demented SF novel ever written. The reputation is deserved. For the first couple of chapters I had no idea what was happening. Neither did the narrator. Then the plot gradually emerged, and it goes like this (at least, I think it does): in the far future, the human race expanded into the far reaches of space but there encountered an alien presence so terrifying that a very fast withdrawal was made. As a defensive measure, human history was folded around itself, so that time became a ring, and everyone who ever existed did so again, and again, and again, repeating their actions ad infinitum. Beyond this, there was established “the Zone,” a buffer between “strobing” history and the universe. This is maintained by the Watchers, who are able to slip in and out of history at any point. The unnamed narrator is one such Watcher. At the start of the story he encounters a woman who possesses powers he doesn’t understand, foremost among them being the ability to recognise him for what he is. To humiliate him (for reasons that are initially far from clear), she robs him of his trousers and permanently shapes his face into that of a clown with a red nose that loudly honks at inconvenient moments. Despite this setback, he pursues her, realising that the aliens are attacking the Zone and she has his two Keys to Ordnance, which he needs to activate the defences. For much of the novel, this pursuit consists of one dreamlike scene after another, with few of them making much sense to the reader or to the protagonist. It’s all very confusing, everything is (purposely) vague, the four nameless characters aren’t wholly sane, and the writing is punctuated by an average of ten ellipses per page. If that sounds bad, it’s not; the novel is actually quite entertaining, if very disorienting, and keeps the reader hooked with the hope that surely—surely!—this must all mean something, that there will be explanations at some point. Well, there are, right at the end, and the big reveal justifies everything that went before. Once the secret is out and the last page is turned, you’ll probably have a strong urge to re-read the whole thing again, this time with the knowledge required to make sense of it. However, for me, there are too many novels and not enough time, so I don’t think I’ll be tackling this one again for a while. It was an interesting experience, though, and I’m in agreement with those who claim it to be a minor classic. There’s not really anything else like it.
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