Title: Disappointing
Product review: After reading such glowing reviews, I was very disappointed when finishing this novel. Overwritten, implausible and far too beholden to Proust (a model the author freely acknowledges) I found it's only achievement was Makine's attempt to describe being an outsider in two worlds and a member of none. He strives far too hard for literary effect and the effort shows (why use one appropriate adjective when ten will do?). It seems clear to me the critics who reviewed this book were starved for any gesture toward writing serious literature and this resulted in overpraising a modest effort (for another example, see "Cold Mountain"). The novel was hated almost unanimously by my reading group.
Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
