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Title: Neither art nor entertainment
Review: As someone who greatly enjoys both classic literature and speculative fiction, I was very disappointed by "The Course of the Heart," which promised to meld the two. The writing is overwrought and frequently incoherent. The reader is given no motivation whatsoever to continue reading the book; the characters are interchangeable madmen, unsympathetic and bereft of will. Their background is withheld throughout in a fashion that would be maddening, if the reader could be brought to care. No foundation is laid, no tension is built, and no conclusion is reached when the characters finally drift offstage at the end.I have not read anything else by M. John Harrison, who seems to be a well-respected author; for all I know, he could have more than earned his acclaim with other works. I would not recommend this one.
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