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The Apartment
by
Greg Baxter
'She was always in many places at once, invested deeply in a hundred different notions, and of all the things I liked about Saskia that was the thing I liked most'. One snowy morning in an old European capital, a man wakes in a hotel room. A young local woman he has befriended calls to the hotel, and the two of them head out into the snow to find the man an apartment to re...more
230 pages
Published
2012
by Penguin Ireland
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I picked this book up on a whim (sometimes my best book choices are made that way), and I am very pleased that I did. It pushed my reading boundaries - in that you don't get to know the narrator's name, and there are no chapters. For a reader such as me that likes to know things, to pin things down, to have some sort of order, it was freeing to have these goals at least, removed. The present day action in the novel takes place within a very short space of time, yet we are taken on a journey into...more
So I was wandering the aisles of my local bookstore the other day. I wasn’t particularly looking to buy anything, but killing time while it rained outside, and with nothing else to do. It was one of those days. You know the type. That was when I picked Greg Baxter’s novel off the shelf, where it was sandwiched in between two other novels. One of the rules is never judge a book by its cover – but I did just that. Penguin have designed a lovely cover for The Apartment. With cover quotes from Hisha...more
The narrator of Greg Baxter’s first novel is an unidentified American living in the capital of an unidentified European country, on his way to view an apartment, accompanied by Saskia, a young woman he has befriended whilst in the city. There’s also a sense in which he’s trying to leave the past behind, and searching for something deeper than a place to live – stability, perhaps; or the chance to control his own world, even if that amounts to little more than being able to fade into the backgrou...more
Thanks to Penguin Canada for supplying me with a review copy of The Apartment.
Before I start, I should probably put things in some kind of perspective.
I first read Dostoevsky at age 12. I am a voracious, omnivorous reader. I have probably read every genre available. I am more than willing to give any book a chance.
So when I say I had a lot of difficulty with this book, it means I had real issues.
My 3 star rating reflects a great deal of ambivalence about Greg Baxter's choice of format. I reall...more
Before I start, I should probably put things in some kind of perspective.
I first read Dostoevsky at age 12. I am a voracious, omnivorous reader. I have probably read every genre available. I am more than willing to give any book a chance.
So when I say I had a lot of difficulty with this book, it means I had real issues.
My 3 star rating reflects a great deal of ambivalence about Greg Baxter's choice of format. I reall...more
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One of those books that is almost impossible to pitch - guy walks around an undisclosed city in the snow looking for an apartment - but which manages to sneak into the cracks while you're reading it. At first I felt like the whole 'i'm not going to tell you what country we're in' hook was a bit of a gimmick, but in hindsight it works because through this Baxter manages to make tangible that same sense of dislocation and strangeness that his narrator is experiencing. So much in this novel is undi...more
Added the author to my "Not to read" list. For me it was a waste of time - bad prose, lack of idea and very depressing to boot. I'm not agains depressing per se, but there should be a good reason for it - none in "The Apartment". The end of the book gives you no more idea of the main character then all 230 pages. I love wierd books, and at first I thought this would be it - but it's just plain meaningless. Sorry, author, but this is actually the case when I wish your books would still have been...more
The first Greg Baxter that I have gobbled, and I must say voraciously. There is strange way in which I sometimes connect with unputdownables - fornication in head, if i may hazard some liberalness. The first person narration helps, it is like letting the driver drive while you wade through the labyrinth of nostalgia, memories, adventure and curiosity, only a detached mind can afford. Saskia,too, is great character, too plain but yet strangely desirable. Well crafted expression!
I read a lot. As a result, I really value a book that is original and that captures my attention and imagination - one that makes me actively read each word. I really enjoyed The Apartment. Its true that there was little in the way of a traditional plot, but I enjoyed spending the day with the narrator and Saskia. I found myself daydreaming about solitude and the ability to start again. I can't speak to its technical execution as some other reviewers have, but I can say that it was an enjoyable...more
I adored this book. There's great mystery to all of it (about the city it takes place in, about the main character), and that's sandwiched between interactions with people who have a great take on how the world we live in has come to exist. It is short, vivid, detailed, and, in my mind, spectacular.
interesting novel about a man trying to leave his past in 2 deserts and trying to find a future and an apartment in a cold European city where he befriends saskia and explores the city and baxter uses the novel to explores different relationships between strangers and interactions between people
I was very impressed indeed by this novel, a much less macho work than Baxter's first book (which I also enjoyed). An American is looking for an apartment in a cold European city with a woman he hardly knows, an innocuous enough situation. Contrasting wintery Europe with the heat of two different deserts, Baxter plays with our expectations, injecting one tiny shock after another until we're left with a vision of horror.
At times I found myself grimacing at all the unexpected tension, at others I...more
At times I found myself grimacing at all the unexpected tension, at others I...more
Stream-of-consciousness, not very fast-paced, lots of flashbacks and introspection. I say all of those things as compliments towards this book, but also as a bit of a warning for anyone who isn't inclined towards a meandering narrative in which little actually "happens."
The book teetered on the brink of some lovely "Aha" moments, but I didn't ever feel it actually tipped over into the realm of deeper ideas it could have. Baxter does do a fantastic job of conveying the atmosphere and feeling of...more
The book teetered on the brink of some lovely "Aha" moments, but I didn't ever feel it actually tipped over into the realm of deeper ideas it could have. Baxter does do a fantastic job of conveying the atmosphere and feeling of...more
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am disappointed to give this book a poor rating. I found the story to have no real plot line, and no real point behind it. There were no chapters, which made it seem like a giant run on sentence. It was still an easy quick read though, which is one positive point. Overall I was not satisfied with this book.
Addresses issues about life, relationships and being an American soldier in Iraq in an unusual way.
Jan 09, 2013
Salvatore
added it
Very excited to be publishing this!
Very beautiful with lovely description
It achieves much by trying to do very little.
May 23, 2013
Rút
is currently reading it
May 23, 2013
Effy Ashton
marked it as to-read
Apr 24, 2013
Stephen
marked it as to-read
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