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A review by katydaly
Amphibian by Christina Neuwirth
2.0
An excellent concept with some watery (har har) execution. Thankfully brief though and redeemed by chapters 8 and 9, in which Neuwirth seems braver and more willing to be a writer.
A particular low point for me was: "She had always secretly suspected that her work at MoneyTownCashGrowth was meaningless. She had her clients and sold them things, but none of it actually meant anything." Yawn. The unoriginality of this just irks me. What is the need to waste paper expressing this? Show me it, or at least tell it in an interesting way and not like a conversation I'd overhear in a pub.
Sometimes the absurdity just lacked joy - it felt like she wasn't connecting with these ludicrous images and I really wanted the concept to be revelled in.
But, as I say, the ending really saved it for me. Well executed with some decent writing. Wish it had been a short story and not a novella.
A particular low point for me was: "She had always secretly suspected that her work at MoneyTownCashGrowth was meaningless. She had her clients and sold them things, but none of it actually meant anything." Yawn. The unoriginality of this just irks me. What is the need to waste paper expressing this? Show me it, or at least tell it in an interesting way and not like a conversation I'd overhear in a pub.
Sometimes the absurdity just lacked joy - it felt like she wasn't connecting with these ludicrous images and I really wanted the concept to be revelled in.
But, as I say, the ending really saved it for me. Well executed with some decent writing. Wish it had been a short story and not a novella.