Ok so this book is really, really slow.
However I did find it interesting, and I enjoyed the slightly quirky format of each section being written as a diary or letter to the character's therapist.
It was the format more than anything that made me stick with it.
We are introduced to a character who is a strict but fair disciplinarian, who has experienced some form of tragedy that has shifted his moral compass. So much so that a large part of the novel is him contemplating killing an mystery person he holds responsible.
This person and the details however are redacted(blacked out) in the novel, so you can't get the whole picture.
As the book rambles on and takes you through the tragedy he experienced and other life events you start to get the sense that maybe this guy was a bit twisted beforehand, and certainly fairly old fashioned. But the tone he takes is very believable and I could imagine this a real person which was good.
However it is incredibly slow to build and, although I think it is intentional, the vagueness at parts and the emphasis on certain aspects gets a bit dull, but I kept reading.
Without wanting to spoil anything the final scenes where it all comes together do work well, and the redacted elements that continue throughout I thought was a nice touch, so as the reader we really don't get the whole picture even at the very the end. Which I'm torn to being impressed and infuriated by, as what was the point in reading it all without a final overview of why it came about, but then it fits the premise brilliantly
However I did find it interesting, and I enjoyed the slightly quirky format of each section being written as a diary or letter to the character's therapist.
It was the format more than anything that made me stick with it.
We are introduced to a character who is a strict but fair disciplinarian, who has experienced some form of tragedy that has shifted his moral compass. So much so that a large part of the novel is him contemplating killing an mystery person he holds responsible.
This person and the details however are redacted(blacked out) in the novel, so you can't get the whole picture.
As the book rambles on and takes you through the tragedy he experienced and other life events you start to get the sense that maybe this guy was a bit twisted beforehand, and certainly fairly old fashioned. But the tone he takes is very believable and I could imagine this a real person which was good.
However it is incredibly slow to build and, although I think it is intentional, the vagueness at parts and the emphasis on certain aspects gets a bit dull, but I kept reading.
Without wanting to spoil anything the final scenes where it all comes together do work well, and the redacted elements that continue throughout I thought was a nice touch, so as the reader we really don't get the whole picture even at the very the end. Which I'm torn to being impressed and infuriated by, as what was the point in reading it all without a final overview of why it came about, but then it fits the premise brilliantly