A review by k_wagner
Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday

3.0

This book got so much hype that it was almost inevitable that it would be a let down. After reading it, I listened to the author, Lisa Halliday, interviewed for the NYT "The Book Review" podcast. Retrospectively it helped to hear that the author intended the unique construction of the book - two short stories followed by an even shorter section comprised of a the dialogue of a brief interview of one of the main characters from the first story on a radio show - to have no apparent relation to each other. After the first half of the book, there is an abrupt switch to a completely different place and cast of characters. The only thing I could glean from the two halves of the book is that they both took place at a similar time - during the Iraq war.

After the first half, I was left frustrated and wanting to know more about Alice and Ezra's relationship; after the second half I was not really that interested in Amar. The final short "coda" is said to contain the clue as to how their stories fit together, but it was lost on me. I went back and re-read the final section with no additional insights. I guess I will have to read the whole book again if I really want to discover the "shocking" clue(s) . . .