2008-07-22 Disappointing. A gripping opening followed by erudite tedium.

The first 90 or so pages of this book were wonderful, and I was expecting a chilling supernatural thriller mixed with scientific speculations, but the book became increasingly tedious with Ariel, the protagonist popping in and out of another dimension for no apparent reason whatsoever and meeting men for sex. The narrative drive collapses somewhere in the middle of the book---everything that happens seems completely pointless, although I may have missed something. And it gets very, very tedious.

Anyone--like me---who's had a purely arts education and really doesn't understand scientific theories will be even more baffled after reading this----and that can't be a good thing.


Scarlett Thomas is obviously very intelligent, but she doesn't, to my mind, succesfully communicate complex ideas in this book---and why all raw descriptions of grubby sexual encounters? This book has left me baffled and bored---and it's such a let down after the gripping opening.
I can only compare it to someone promising you a fabulous holiday and then telling you your flight's been cancelled.