Monday, March 23, 2009

Currently reading...

Strange Tunnels Disappearing by Gary Ley. This is a rather, um, strange book. Set in Peru in the 1980s but written by a Welshman, it tells the story of Jose, an academic with communist leanings, who goes on the run after hearing that his life is in danger. Every review I've seen of it is absolutely glowing but so far I'm finding it terribly slow and packed with the sort of meaningless, introspective, navel-gazing dialogue where the characters vocalise their thoughts to one another rather than holding proper conversations. I can't help thinking some of these vocalisations are actually of the author's thoughts, not the characters', since in one place he has a Spanish-speaking character muse on the sound of the word 'gringo' - in English!

I shall persevere in the hope that the characters stop musing on the meaning of life and actually do something, but I'm not hopeful...

Gorgeous cover, though!

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