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als_adventures's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
Complex and fast and fun and chaotic.
sorrelnorwood's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
kevreads's review
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
paulcowdell's review against another edition
4.0
This was probably a 3.5 for me. It's not my favourite Mathews by a long way, lacking the capricious spring of The Sinking of the Odradek Stadium, say, and being much more in the nature of a Work of Literary Fiction (which is one of the most damning insults I can level against any book). Mathews's approach to construction, however (as with all of the Oulipians) means that even such an end result is driven in a way it's generally not by the Creative Writing Studies crowds. This reads like a geometrically organised take on the 19th century triple-decker or mid-20th century modernist novels of social intrigue, and the resultant collapsing in on themselves of the Chinese boxes of plots is hugely satisfying. In a way that's my biggest gripe against the Oulipians: when they work at their best (Perec's big novels), or even somewhere slightly below that (here) they often produce novels that are way better than they have any right to be.
kingfan30's review
3.0
Did not get on as well with this book as I thought. I like the idea about each chapter exploring the different relationships between two of the characters but as I read through, I found it hard to remember how each character was related to others I had already read about.
thebobsphere's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly I can't remember this one - except that I had trouble 'connecting' with it, Unfortunately a big problem I have with experimental novels.
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