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juushikaTitle: The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri
Author: David Bajo
Published: New York: Viking, 2008
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 289
Total Page Count: 63,878
Text Number: 183
Read For: personal enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: Author and bookbinder Irma disappears, leaving her collection of 351 books to Philip, mathematician and her longtime friend and lover. Reading the books, Philip discovers that Irma has left him hidden messages which may aid him in his attempt to discover where she is—or perhaps simply who she was. The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri is a dense combination of Philip's search for Irma, his history with her, and the stories in her books, filled with literature, mathematics, and sex. The book has an intriguing and intelligent concept, and its focus is character motivation and themes more than plot progression. But, with an undeveloped plot and constant scene changes, the book is difficult to read—and neither the characters nor themes redeem its difficulty. I don't recommend it.
351 Books is dense and difficult to read. The plot moves slowly: ostensibly, Philip searches for Irma in and out of her books, but much of the plot is dedicated to mundane events as Philip wanders through cities and goes on dozens of long runs. The plot is interrupted by flashbacks, recaps of the books in Irma's collection, and second person descriptions of the setting; these numerous scene changes come without warning, confusing the reader and yanking him out of the story to force him to reread and regain his bearings. The plot doesn't go much of anywhere, and it is largely a vehicle to convey characters and themes. No doubt, this dense story style is intentional, and it mirror Irma's messages for Philip, hidden within the pages of her books. The text grows marginally easier to read over time, but it never becomes a book to get lost in.
By no means does a book need to be easy to consume in order to be good or enjoyable. However, a difficult book needs to have something—writing, characters, themes—to make the reader's time and effort worthwhile. 351 Books never manages to reward the reader for its difficulty. Bajo's narrative voice is competent but entirely unremarkable. For all that the plot is a mere vehicle for the characters, those characters are distant and, though they're nuanced to excess, their esoteric details only render them unbelievable. Worst of all, despite all its rich source material, the book says nothing of note. It does say something—of how Philip and Irma view the world, of relationships and the expectations they hold, of the codes and meanings present within life—but none of these themes or messages is brilliant, bold, or memorable.
Bajo intends well, and his novel has a certain charm: the messages hidden within books are intriguing, and Irma is unusual and engaging. But the novel is laboriously slow and frankly unenjoyable to read, and nothing—not characters nor themes nor Philip's revelations—redeems it. Rather than difficult and fulfilling, The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri is merely difficult and disappointing. It is an unnecessarily complex and confusing combination of scenes and styles without the compelling characters or themes to reward the effort of reading it. I liked the premise, and wanted to like the book, but I simply couldn't enjoy it. Therefore, I don't recommend 351 Books—not to the causal reader, nor to the reader that wishes to be challenged and rewarded for his work.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
This is the first review for this book to go up on Amazon. It was rather intimidating to write as a result, but hopefully it'll be useful.
Author: David Bajo
Published: New York: Viking, 2008
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 289
Total Page Count: 63,878
Text Number: 183
Read For: personal enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: Author and bookbinder Irma disappears, leaving her collection of 351 books to Philip, mathematician and her longtime friend and lover. Reading the books, Philip discovers that Irma has left him hidden messages which may aid him in his attempt to discover where she is—or perhaps simply who she was. The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri is a dense combination of Philip's search for Irma, his history with her, and the stories in her books, filled with literature, mathematics, and sex. The book has an intriguing and intelligent concept, and its focus is character motivation and themes more than plot progression. But, with an undeveloped plot and constant scene changes, the book is difficult to read—and neither the characters nor themes redeem its difficulty. I don't recommend it.
351 Books is dense and difficult to read. The plot moves slowly: ostensibly, Philip searches for Irma in and out of her books, but much of the plot is dedicated to mundane events as Philip wanders through cities and goes on dozens of long runs. The plot is interrupted by flashbacks, recaps of the books in Irma's collection, and second person descriptions of the setting; these numerous scene changes come without warning, confusing the reader and yanking him out of the story to force him to reread and regain his bearings. The plot doesn't go much of anywhere, and it is largely a vehicle to convey characters and themes. No doubt, this dense story style is intentional, and it mirror Irma's messages for Philip, hidden within the pages of her books. The text grows marginally easier to read over time, but it never becomes a book to get lost in.
By no means does a book need to be easy to consume in order to be good or enjoyable. However, a difficult book needs to have something—writing, characters, themes—to make the reader's time and effort worthwhile. 351 Books never manages to reward the reader for its difficulty. Bajo's narrative voice is competent but entirely unremarkable. For all that the plot is a mere vehicle for the characters, those characters are distant and, though they're nuanced to excess, their esoteric details only render them unbelievable. Worst of all, despite all its rich source material, the book says nothing of note. It does say something—of how Philip and Irma view the world, of relationships and the expectations they hold, of the codes and meanings present within life—but none of these themes or messages is brilliant, bold, or memorable.
Bajo intends well, and his novel has a certain charm: the messages hidden within books are intriguing, and Irma is unusual and engaging. But the novel is laboriously slow and frankly unenjoyable to read, and nothing—not characters nor themes nor Philip's revelations—redeems it. Rather than difficult and fulfilling, The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri is merely difficult and disappointing. It is an unnecessarily complex and confusing combination of scenes and styles without the compelling characters or themes to reward the effort of reading it. I liked the premise, and wanted to like the book, but I simply couldn't enjoy it. Therefore, I don't recommend 351 Books—not to the causal reader, nor to the reader that wishes to be challenged and rewarded for his work.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
This is the first review for this book to go up on Amazon. It was rather intimidating to write as a result, but hopefully it'll be useful.
