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Title: Short, post-modernist snore
Review: This is a very short book, which the publisher has struggled to pad with lots of white space and big type (at least in my edition); but it still manages to be dull. Yes, the opening is quite good. Some of the writing is quite good, but clearly Garland has no idea how to develop his story and shies away from anything with too much plot, as if afraid of losing his literary street cred. So he opts for a meaningless and unengaging structure with lots of jumping around between characters, and ends up with a mess. That some reviewers think this is all a sign of his being a 'serious' novelist only shows how pitifully timid and easily led most of them are. Next time, I'll pass.
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