Sara Todavchick Todavchick itibaren Dry Drayton, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB23, UK
Excellent word painting, amazing descriptions and truly realistic characters made this a book I won’t forget but the thing that excited me the most about this story is the way the author took real locations and weaved the magic of believable fantasy into them. I had no previous plans to visit York, however, I must admit to having just booked a week’s break there all thanks to this story. Nice job, Elizabeth. I can’t wait to read the next one. Oh and I have seen some mention of ‘Team’s’ around this book. If you are counting, then I am ‘Team Simon’.
This is Mitchell's second novel, and while it is my least favorite of the four it is as interconnected in his world as the rest of his work. It follows a similar episodic structure, alternating between the actual life of the character (taken from one of the episodic characters from Ghostwritten), and his dreams, daydreams, fantasies--but it follows the one character, instead of many. It is set almost entirely in Japan, where Mitchell lived and taught English (I think...I know he lived there, I believe he taught English) for a number of years.
This kind of book isn't to everyone's liking. But if you are interested in the psychology of - or rather the clues allowing you to guess at the psychology of - serial killers / psychopaths etc., then this one is for you! I find this area fascinating anyway, but Gordon Burn is a very intelligent, sophisticated and careful writer to boot. He manages to convey a sense of pervading menace and darkness in his tone. He also, fundamentally, writes of the people involved in a way that emphasises that they are real people who existed: a tad quiet, had a stroke at 55, belonged to a secret club as a teenager, had a squint, liked hammers etc. After all, the most spine-tingling, amazing and possibly most important thing that the author points out is that the victims were everyday people, and so was the killer, apparently; until he finally - and utterly randomly - got found out. A gripping and thought-provoking book that borders on literature.