This is a difficult book to classify. I am sure the author meant it to be a literary novel, and wanted it to be unique. It has created a stir in the literary world for the style in which she wrote it, and also because I feel most people, including me, don't understand three quarters of what is written.

The plot, such as it is, revolves around a brilliant single mother and her genius child, who is looking for his father. Brilliant Mum doesn't want him to know who his father is, although it is the only thing this child wants with all his heart.

When he finds out who his real Dad is, he decides Dad is lacking, and sets out to find a man he thinks would be a suitable father.

That is the plot. The rest of the book contains smaller stories, philosophy, foreign language, math equations, bizarre trains of thought that go no where, and one messed up mother and child.

The only feeling I got from this book was one of sadness for the boy who is a genius, but lacks human love and companionship.

I know the intellectuals out there will praise this book to the heavens for the use of foreign language, discussions about mathematics and history and other indications that the writer, and the reader who understands this book, is better and smarter than everyone else. It would be a good door stopper at my house.

The book is divided into the mother's voice in the beginning, who I loathed, and the child at the end. The child I enjoyed, and read through that part of this very long novel quickly.

I don't like writers who resort to showing off to prove they are intelligent. I also don't like the trend toward 'quirky' writing, where a writer can waste an entire page just for a treatise on Japanese music or a mathematical equation.

Give the author a kick in the pants. I will never read any other work she does. I also want to help her with some counseling, since she has no social skills.

Angry I wasted the time to read it.

Here is her web site: http://www.helendewitt.com/hdewitt.html, not much help there. This is her first book, and as far as I can tell, her only one. There is not much information about this author. I have my own opinions, but I want to stay objective.

Many people will disagree with me about this novel; read the Amazon reviews to read the fawning. I am in the minority of readers who can see through the pretense of this story. Read it yourself, and see.

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Created Mar 14, 2007 at 8:07pm • Submit your own review...