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A review by oedipa_maas
Days Between Stations by Steve Erickson
2.0
Uneven. That's my ultimate word on this book.
The comparisons to Pynchon, DeLillo, and Nabokov are almost laughable, and I can see why those guys come to mind in terms of tone and themes, but the prose doesn't even approach them. This novel had a grand idea and Erickson developed an intricate riddle for the reader to solve as she reads it, which I always appreciate, but the language is so flowery and dreamlike that it overshadowed any real gut emotion that was trying to surface. I've read his The Sea Came in at Midnight that he wrote 15 years later, so I understand that this debut novel was really just several tests to see what works and what might need to be hacked. I don't think I enjoyed this, overall, but I can see it for what it is and respect that.
Oh yeah, the sex scenes were really cringey - does Erickson think doggy style is the only way to fuck?
The comparisons to Pynchon, DeLillo, and Nabokov are almost laughable, and I can see why those guys come to mind in terms of tone and themes, but the prose doesn't even approach them. This novel had a grand idea and Erickson developed an intricate riddle for the reader to solve as she reads it, which I always appreciate, but the language is so flowery and dreamlike that it overshadowed any real gut emotion that was trying to surface. I've read his The Sea Came in at Midnight that he wrote 15 years later, so I understand that this debut novel was really just several tests to see what works and what might need to be hacked. I don't think I enjoyed this, overall, but I can see it for what it is and respect that.
Oh yeah, the sex scenes were really cringey - does Erickson think doggy style is the only way to fuck?