Title: Great beginning, poor development, lousy end
Product review: Like many readers, I got hooked by this book's great introduction, which turned out to be one of the few highlights. The pedantic storyline fails to catch the reader's interest, and the two main characters - too obviously the authors' alter egos - are flat, and live their lives at 20+ with a pathos one would hardly find in a 70-year-old ex-con.A few things in there are worth saving, such as the Hypnerotomachia subject itself and the underlying historical background. A better writer would have turned this raw material into a major success.This is a so-so first for the book's young authors and I wish them success. I just hope they will not repeat the mistakes they made in this book - too many to list - and that they will not write their next novel at the same pace: 6 years by some accounts, and about as long to read it. Many of us may may no longer be around when they are done.
Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
