A review by elbowgrip_and_emdash
Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday

4.0

If this novel had ended after part one, it would have been worthy of 5 stars for sure. I loved the delivery of part one, which follows Alice, a young editor in New York City, who takes up with a Ezra, a much older and quite famous author. Halliday's technique in part one is unique and her prose fresh, quick, surprising, and even somewhat quirky. Part two follows Amar, who is an Iraqi-American detained by immigration officials on his way to Kurdistan. This part simply felt incomplete to me; it ended right as I felt it was beginning. It is more traditionally told than part one (though the flawless weaving of the present and past is something to be admired technically) but ultimately I think I missed the relationship between the two parts. This book merits, and is certainly worthy, of a reread. (There is a third part, an interview with Ezra, but apart from being highly interested in this strange, eloquent man as a character, I more or less felt the substance of the book ended after part two.)