I was at a bookstore (Alabaster), when I saw this book. I like taking a look at NYRBs but I was unsure about the title. The man behind the counter, unprompted, told me it was a great pick so I walked out with it.

I'm not much of a thriller reader so I'm not leaving a score for this, and take this with a grain of salt. I have mixed thoughts on this book. The premise is interesting, but Household's writing style is misshapen at times. The best parts are between the moments of clarity of the main character, and the most tedious are the extended but not detailed descriptions of the landscapes. It often feels more like a technical description than a vivid image, but I appreciate the dedication to describing these places regardless.

One of the reasons I'm assuming NYRB picked up this book is the more literary quality, all within the protagonist's mind. As much as this book considers larger themes, it doesn't really capitalize on them. The better parts felt too short, and the less great parts too long. There are times where I wished I heard more of the protagonist's thoughts about himself or the world, rather than descriptions of farms, that look like an 'E', but with the middle bar removed, and so on, and so on. These descriptions didn't inject as much soul into the location as I think was intended. To understand the plot sometimes these details are necessary, but they read more confusing than helpful. After all of these I still don't really have a good mental model for where he spent the most time and what it actually looks like. Thankfully the pacing keeps this from going on too long, but there were times this book felt longer than it is - and it's not a long book. By the end, the plot unfortunately felt a bit cheap with how things turned. Overall the ending, from a third person's perspective was good and believable, but less so the protagonist's thoughts on it.

The high points are where the Rogue Male came to observations about himself and his world. They just don't go on very long. The more literary paragraphs felt more like additions to an already written story than foundational themes of it. This makes his descent into roguery come off as a bit melodramatic and forced. There was time to describe him in this beastly fashion but it was spent elsewhere.

In all I think if you're a thriller reader who wants something seminal it's a good pick, and not super long. That being said I personally was a bit underwhelmed.

mav

mav