A review by shimmer
N by John Alan Scott

N is a big, complicated alternate history of WWII in Australia told in multiple modes and styles from the Pynchonesque to magical realism to inserted documents to slapstick(ish) comedy.* It's set in the past but very much engaged with the present as the large cast of characters (politicians, artists, soldiers, spies) get caught up in the incremental creep of fascism and oppression accepted one moment's expediency at a time. The juxtaposition of voices, styles, and experiences creates a panoramic sense but Scott never loses the intimate, individual presense and pathos of his characters despite so many moving parts to keep track of and to keep the reader engaged. As others have noted elsewhere, it does get a bit too “tidy” at the end, tying things up perhaps more insistently than I felt like I needed, but that approach took on a gravitas of its own that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise, so I wouldn’t call it a complaint.

It isn't the easiest book to get your hands on in the US but it's worth the effort (and interlibrary loan was able to find it for me). I'd love to see a US publisher bring it over (that's you, editor friends). I suspect an equivalent novel written about the US or UK instead of Australia would get far more attention, acclaim, and international republication, which is a shame.

* In particular, there's a cameo by Douglas MacArthur that manages to turn one of his most famous lines into an absolutely hilarious gag. I laughed so hard I got some funny looks on the subway.