I found it hard to follow. So much of it was in his head, and I never got a feel for any kind of plot or characterization, which I'm sure was deliberate. It seemed mainly "impressionistic." I'm not really sure what the "story" was or why the narrator felt compelled to it, although many times I was definitely taken with a poetic turn of phrase.
Good points, kc. Sometimes I wondered whether it was deliberately done that way as a kind of stylistic "haze" (which, given the subject material, is understandable).
I'm glad it ended on a somewhat happy note, though. Was it just me, or did other people find it difficult to wade through the middle part?
Shanxi, I know what you mean about the "haze." That crossed my mind too, but it's weird to me that a narrator who seems so into the precision of words would deliberately be hazy. On the other hand, maybe that's a point, too — if there's a phenomenon of drinkers thinking they are being articulate, of believing they are completely in control and making sense, when really they are not being clear at all.
It took me awhile to adjust to the fact that nothing was really going to happen in this book, at least not in terms of traditional plot, so yeah, there was a slow period for me.
I found it hard to follow. So much of it was in his head, and I never got a feel for any kind of plot or characterization, which I'm sure was deliberate. It seemed mainly "impressionistic." I'm not really sure what the "story" was or why the narrator felt compelled to it, although many times I was definitely taken with a poetic turn of phrase.
ReplyDeletePosting for Shanxi:
ReplyDeleteGood points, kc. Sometimes I wondered whether it was deliberately done that way as a kind of stylistic "haze" (which, given the subject material, is understandable).
I'm glad it ended on a somewhat happy note, though. Was it just me, or did other people find it difficult to wade through the middle part?
Shanxi, I know what you mean about the "haze." That crossed my mind too, but it's weird to me that a narrator who seems so into the precision of words would deliberately be hazy. On the other hand, maybe that's a point, too — if there's a phenomenon of drinkers thinking they are being articulate, of believing they are completely in control and making sense, when really they are not being clear at all.
ReplyDeleteIt took me awhile to adjust to the fact that nothing was really going to happen in this book, at least not in terms of traditional plot, so yeah, there was a slow period for me.