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A review by hollymckie
1982, Janine by Alasdair Gray
2.0
I didn't particularly like this book, nor did I have a CLUE what was going on most of the time. I know you aren't meant to understand it all, but I didn't understand what I wasn't meant to understand. It did start to come together in my head a bit more in, say, the last quarter, which probably made me just sorta dislike it rather than hate it. Really not my style though but very clever (read for an essay).
It is completely and utterly unique and I do have to give props to Alasdair Gray for that. Some of the pages in the middle are truly insane, both in language and typography. I can't even describe it to its full effect for those who have never seen it. Some words are upside down, bold, capitalised, in three columns, in an X shape, and a million other things.
How does a person's brain even work in a way that would produce something like this. The word 'fragmented' has taken on a whole new meaning after the experience that was this book. I almost gave it 3 stars just for that but then I remember the other books I have given 3 stars to and had to drop it to just 2.
A truly wild ride.
It is completely and utterly unique and I do have to give props to Alasdair Gray for that. Some of the pages in the middle are truly insane, both in language and typography. I can't even describe it to its full effect for those who have never seen it. Some words are upside down, bold, capitalised, in three columns, in an X shape, and a million other things.
How does a person's brain even work in a way that would produce something like this. The word 'fragmented' has taken on a whole new meaning after the experience that was this book. I almost gave it 3 stars just for that but then I remember the other books I have given 3 stars to and had to drop it to just 2.
A truly wild ride.