Book Review #3
After the Circus
by Patrick Modiano
I really wanted to like this book. It's very French and a fairly fast read but unfortunately not a very compelling one. The characters are not as mysterious as the author would have us believe and are paper thin. Very little of consequence happens, though there are moments of tension and suspense. Gisele, the would-be femme fatale, is simply not all that interesting. The book, itself, proceeds with a kind of episodic, dreamlike logic, told from the point of view of Jean, the eighteen-year-old narrator, who also recalls the events as a young adult. But the circumstances carry little weight and lack drama. To use a word Jean refers to when describing his emotions and experiences, it's all too "vague." And the ending is as abrupt and ambiguous as it is disappointing.
by Patrick Modiano
I really wanted to like this book. It's very French and a fairly fast read but unfortunately not a very compelling one. The characters are not as mysterious as the author would have us believe and are paper thin. Very little of consequence happens, though there are moments of tension and suspense. Gisele, the would-be femme fatale, is simply not all that interesting. The book, itself, proceeds with a kind of episodic, dreamlike logic, told from the point of view of Jean, the eighteen-year-old narrator, who also recalls the events as a young adult. But the circumstances carry little weight and lack drama. To use a word Jean refers to when describing his emotions and experiences, it's all too "vague." And the ending is as abrupt and ambiguous as it is disappointing.
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