Title: Not beautiful writing, but writing trying to be beautiful
Product review: The close of chapter 2 sums up the pretentious emptiness of Mason's prose: "White. Like a clean piece of paper, like uncarved ivory, all is white when the story begins." This vapid, wannabe elegance should send readers back to Anthony Trollope or Henry James for lessons in the craft. Add to that the besetting vice of much contemporary fiction, the endless so-what descriptions of nothing in particular ("Mist beads on his glasses and he removes them to wipe them on his waistcoat"-- also at the end of chapter 2). This novel is eye-candy for a culture that has lost touch with literature.
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