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Title: This Is Not A Review
Review: How do you review something when you're not quite sure what it is to begin with?This Is Not A Novel is, in fact, not a novel but what it is is not entirely clear. Throughout his work, Markson runs through details about how famous literary figures have died, what philosophers believed and what artists said. There are no characters except, perhaps, for the elusive "Writer". There is no plot. Nothing thrilling happens. And yet its amazing to me how drawn in to the book I was.Bottom line: I don't know what it was but I'm glad I read it. Experimental fiction can either be disastrous (see The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino) or monumentally successful (see 253: The Print Remix by Geoff Ryman) - there's usually no middle ground. This Is Not A Novel definitely fits into the latter category.
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