A review by justlucyamelia
Arc d'X by Steve Erickson
4.0
More than anything else, this book brought into focus the failings of the five start rating system for me. Not because I had a particularly strong opinion one way or the other that five measly categories couldn't possibly manage to summarise, but rather the opposite.
Reading through the other reviews of this book (all twenty two of them), I was struck by how I empathised with them all. From the people who couldn't make it through the first one hundred pages because it was too uncomfortable - if uncomfortable even comes close - to the people who accepted that it was never supposed to be an easy read. From the people who were genuinely stunned by Erickson's construction of sentences to the people who thought it was pretentious and ridiculous. From the people who thought the structure was a mess to the people who thought it was a revelation.
I do think the book suffered from the inclusion of the Erickson (an American novelist in the book?) and Georgie sections. They made me check the clock on my phone every ten pages - the number one sin in literature - and didn't add much to the narrative. However, I'd definitely say to someone that they should read it, if only it meant that there was one more person in the world to discuss it with, but I couldn't recommend it in the same uncomplicated way I can recommend books I've rated 4+.
Reading through the other reviews of this book (all twenty two of them), I was struck by how I empathised with them all. From the people who couldn't make it through the first one hundred pages because it was too uncomfortable - if uncomfortable even comes close - to the people who accepted that it was never supposed to be an easy read. From the people who were genuinely stunned by Erickson's construction of sentences to the people who thought it was pretentious and ridiculous. From the people who thought the structure was a mess to the people who thought it was a revelation.
I do think the book suffered from the inclusion of the Erickson (an American novelist in the book?) and Georgie sections. They made me check the clock on my phone every ten pages - the number one sin in literature - and didn't add much to the narrative. However, I'd definitely say to someone that they should read it, if only it meant that there was one more person in the world to discuss it with, but I couldn't recommend it in the same uncomplicated way I can recommend books I've rated 4+.