This is a somewhat complex story, with multiple timelines and viewpoints. In at least one place the timelines leapfrog, so that you are aware of the result of an action before you hear about it occurring. However, none of this is confusing and I’d say the book is quite well written. Many aspects of the story are desperately unlikely, but that makes for a good tale. It is ultimately a love story, but succeeds in investigating many other aspects of human behaviour in the process. I am not sure about the technique of including a real person in a fictional story. I guess that’s a matter between the author and the celebrity’s lawyers. The name of the hotel - Adequate View - is genius. And I like th little bits of untranslated Italian, which I think give context without taking away meaning.
I liked the quality of the writing. There are a lot of “one liners”, which I enjoyed:
“What kind of wife would I be if I left your father simply because he is dead?"
“… and a map that looks like it was drawn by a ten-year-old on meth."
“A writer needs four things to achieve greatness: desire, disappointment and the sea.” “That’s only three.” “You have to do disappointment twice."
“But only if you stop wiping your ass on my language."
“Having a baby?” She looked away. “It was like shitting a hen."
He assumed that enough polite post-orgasm conversation had passed, at least it would have in America; he wasn’t sure of the British exchange rate.
“… as if his face had been sculpted in separate pieces and then assembled on-site."
No comments:
Post a Comment