I ripped through it yesterday in a few hours’ time. It was so… flimsy? Like more of a too-long short story or merely an outline of an idea? It was as if Mandel just had to get something, anything to the publisher to fulfill a contract real quick. The author character made me never ever want to write a book. The characters had no depth, the concepts weren’t fleshed out, and the vision of the future wasn’t credible to me. What did everyone else think?
I see what you mean when you say embracing the surrealist quality. I felt unusually critical about this story, my brain kept yelling BUT BUT, etc. I do think she’s a great writer so I was surprised at my reaction.
I like all lengths of novels. I’ve been reading a lot of Agatha Christie lately for that short and sweet hit they give. Thanks for your thoughts!