In retrospect, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, a mixture of : Douglas Adams; Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint; David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas; Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five; and something undeniably new (I now feel the need to read Ned Beauman‘s first novel, Boxer, Beetle).
After I’d finished the first hundred pages (maybe a bit more) I was pretty sure I wouldn’t like it; nevertheless, I kept reading because every once in a while there was a nugget, and I didn’t want to miss one: below are a few that I marked as I read (there are lots more):
“A short-wave radio hummed jazz as if it had forgotten the tune.” (p.133)
“There was enough ice in her voice for a serviceable daiquiri.” (p.149)
“…the sort of moustache that could beat you in an arm-wrestling contest.” (p.163)
“…a tall, gaunt man with small narrow eyes set deep in his skull like two old sisters trying to spy out of the windows of their house without being noticed.”(p.197)
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It takes quite some time for this novel’s plot to warm up, but there is more going on than I suspected at first (and a whirlwind of threads converge near the end of the book, which has four endings).
The novel begins in Berlin, 1931.
There are quite a few threads introduced at various points, for example:
- Set designer Adriano Lavicini’s Extraordinary Mechanism for the Almost Instantaneous Transport of Persons from Place to Place, which caused an infamous disaster, with echoes far into the future.
- Evolved dinosaurs: the Troondonians.
- Adele Hitler (no relation), who evokes a strong infatuation from the main character, Egon Loeser.
- A one-sided romance (see previous point).
- A murder mystery with noir elements.
- A scientist attempting to harness the energy of ghosts to provide electricity for the USA.
- A man who cannot tell pictures from the real thing (he suffers from ontological agnosia).
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The main character, Egon Loeser, is difficult to like; however, I find my reaction to be similar to another character in the novel — Rupert Rackenham — who decided that “…in spite of everything, he liked Loeser.” (p.352)
Highly recommended; but be patient, and be aware that this is an odd book…
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db johnston
almost falling 