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A review by nrdespain
The Confabulist by Steven Galloway
3.0
I'm quite conflicted with my feelings for this book. It was interesting and then it wasn't and then it was and so on.
I don't feel like I connected with Martin Strauss, the main character and the man who killed Houdini in the story. I didn't care for his story or his condition. Add the fact that he's an unreliable narrator and things are just set up for disappointment.
I enjoyed the Houdini background and alternate story and found myself Googling actual facts on the aforementioned Houdini, also Rasputin, Chung Ling Soo, the Romanov family and other historical figures mentioned. So the book did keep my interest there, to my surprise, since I don't particularly like historical fiction. Maybe because it mostly was fiction mingled with facts.
I liked it enough to finish it.
I don't feel like I connected with Martin Strauss, the main character and the man who killed Houdini in the story. I didn't care for his story or his condition. Add the fact that he's an unreliable narrator and things are just set up for disappointment.
I enjoyed the Houdini background and alternate story and found myself Googling actual facts on the aforementioned Houdini, also Rasputin, Chung Ling Soo, the Romanov family and other historical figures mentioned. So the book did keep my interest there, to my surprise, since I don't particularly like historical fiction. Maybe because it mostly was fiction mingled with facts.
I liked it enough to finish it.