Húmorísk og snjöll saga af fólki sem býr út í auðn í blikkhúsum. Söguhetjan fann fyrir tilviljun tveggja hæða blikkhús og hefur sest þar að. Nágrannar hans sem búa í þægilegri fjarlægð líta mikið upp til hans og hann er sæll í fábreytilegri tilveru sinni. En brátt breytist allt. Kona nokkur bankar upp hjá honum og flytur inn til hans. Stormasamt samband þeirra og fregnir að annar Blikkkóngur búi fjær í auðninni sem fjöldi manns flykkist að í von um útópískt samfélag vekur öfund sögumannssins sem að lokum heldur einnig af stað til að svala forvitni sinni.
Skemmtilega skrifuð og heillandi. ( )

-- This novel is original! Mills employs common words to tell seemingly simple tale. There are few characters. Protagonist finds a tin house in the middle of nowhere in which to live & meets a couple of other tin house dwellers. Out of nowhere a woman knocks on his door with her belongings & soon makes herself at home. Eventually people are building a city within a few hours walk of protagonist's secluded abode. -- ( )

In which a man who lives alone in a harsh wasteland finds himself pressed into a social existence when he is joined by a quarrelsome woman at the same time that his scattered neighbors befriend him and try to share their enthusiasm for a distant, messianic figure who lives "even further out". This novella's themes of individualism vs. companionship, the appeal (or lack of same) to humanity of belief in a god, and the nature of charismatic political or religious leadership is evocative of themes addressed by great novelists through the centuries, as well as having an extremely strong linkage to Nietzschean philosophy. Old school rock fans will be reminded of The Who's Tommy. The author tells his story with bleak, sparse prose which suits the mood of his story and keeps pages turning. Few are the works of fiction which surpass this. ( )

An interesting fable. An observation on the nature of wanting to belong but not wanting to be lost in the mass. There was a hollowness to its centre. The life of the main character was nicely observed but the alleged charisma of his supposed rival wasn't quite rounded enough, and the masses who flocked to him even less so. Perhaps if it had been a longer book this would have been resolved, but then again, perhaps there wasn't a longer book in it. It was diverting and charming in its strangeness, and kept me reading for a few hours solid, though, which is kind of a recommendation. ( )

Low key, quirky, ominous perfection

"Existing in a house of tin was an end unto itself, a particular state of being, and time didn't come into it"

A happy curmudgeon lives in a tin house in a featureless, undisclosed desert until an old acquaintance turns up on with a suitcase and rumours of a messianic tin house builder far away to draw him out of his

As sparse as its setting, this is a pared down story, almost a parable, with dead pan humour and a deftly wry look at humanity. Solitude and mob mentality, neighboured politics, urbanisation and false prophets. Funny, thoughtful and nightmarish. Mills is pretty much one of a kind, the everyday made ominous, societies unwritten rules looming large as cruel crisis and his books are an experience in themselves. I really would urge everyone to try him at least once, maybe not to start here (try Restraint of Beasts ).

Recommended, unless you need a fast paced adventure tale. It may not be my favourite of his work but fans will enjoy this hugely. ( )