If I were to write a novel, I assume it would be something like this one, somewhat scatter-brained, somewhat genius and somewhat ludicrous.
I enjoyed the author’s conversational tone, but sometimes the informality of it when she trailed off into the could haves and would haves fell into a long trailing run on lists which are evenly entertaining and annoying. (Entertaining because we all know we do it, and me more so than others, and annoying because after the first few times it seemed wanton and trite.)
We follow the unnamed narrator from her pursuit of a PhD at Cambridge University to the depths of unemployment in New York City with the one constant being her love/lust/infatuation of Eugene, a professor of Ego studies. It goes without saying that the love/lust/infatuation is perceptibly unrequited as Eugene not only marries another woman and has a child by her, but carries on numerous other affairs over their ten-year relationship/fling.
What a fun novel! I was not expecting much as I purchased this in the Kindle sale a few weeks ago. I purchased it for its tenuous connection to Jane Austen and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
This was a so-so read. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I remember when it first hit the shelves and everyone obsessed over it. I sort of put it in the back of my mind as a to-read book, but never thought I would as I love Austen’s novels on their own and really didn’t know what to expect with the introduction of Sci-Fi/Horror elements.
“Sex everywhere: it was slopping over, a neap tide that swept the props from under the city.” (204)
This is the story of Billy Argos, the boy detective. The way the book is put together is fascinating and reminded me a lot of Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The chapters start at 31 and there are random pages with word formations or small paragraphs which was a bit annoying, but it added to the quirkiness of the book. Perhaps the most intriguing/annoying thing was the hidden message along the bottom of the pages. I of course had to figure it out because it was driving me nuts. The coded message is after the jump, but I didn’t decode it and left out a bit so you have to read the book yourself to find out. I did follow the instructions and we’ll see what happens.