I...suspect I am moving past my experimental structure novel days. There are moments of twisting beauty in the words, and I admire Adler's ability to layer innocuousnesses and slam on a finishing line to throw it all in sharp relief, but,
man. I really love plot. And characters. And I had a hard time letting go of that and relaxing enough to enjoy this book for what it was. I got about a third of the way through before I could treat each vignette on its own and stop straining for connections; the strands of thematic whatnot really only popped into focus for me like a magic eye poster (though I'm far better at relaxing into seeing written themes than I am that stupid sailboat or dinosaur) when I stopped trying. A hard book for me to pick up and read in long swathes; it's a sip not a gulp. Still, I'm glad I read it and may dip in and out of it again some day, even if I never read it cover to cover again.
