Marcus Hobson > Recent Status Updates

This may take a little while to get into; in this world everything is familiar but life is lived differently.

I already like Giles, the grumpy old character at the centre of this story.

I am distracted by footnotes. They are everywhere, referring me to later parts of the book. The asterisk that denotes them is so small that it is easy to miss, especially hidden among punctuation. You can see there is a footnote at the base of the page, but worrying that you will miss the exact position of the asterisk diverts you from absorbing the story.

On one level I feel like I am still waiting for this book to begin, looking for the start of the story. On another, there are many reflections and images that keep haunting you. The coloured glass from windows broken by a religious group who opposed stained glass in churches. The image of people collecting up the broken fragments in order to save them or somehow recreate the lost image. Very haunting.

This is brilliant. Clever, funny, sad, compulsive. Love it.

Started reading this while staying in Gamla Stan Stockholm. Being in the actual places mentioned in the first few pages really helped to bring this to life for me.

Beautifully described.