I very much enjoyed this novel, despite its rather hopeless and self-deluding central character. His wilful rejection of any attempts to bring him to an appreciation of the truth of his situation is gradually and skilfully revealed, with so much pity that it is as impossible for the reader to apportion blame as it is for the protagonist to accept it. I shall certainly be reading this again. (PS)

I very much enjoyed this novel, despite its rather hopeless and self-deluding central character. His wilful rejection of any attempts to bring him to an appreciation of the truth of his situation is gradually and skilfully revealed, with so much pity that it is as impossible for the reader to apportion blame as it is for the protagonist to accept it. I shall certainly be reading this again. ( )

interessant, spannend, überraschend ( )

An interesting concept for a book that, personally, I haven't encountered before. A book that starts near the end of the story and then works its way back to the beginning. The main character, known as Wilberforce, is an intriguing chap and the story develops well. The mystery of his life opens up as you get to understand his history which brings you to the climax of the story that you have already read (the way his life has unfolded). I did find the book a little heavy going for the first several chapters, purely because the detail about wine was lost on me. However, I can now appreciate that it is an important part of how the character Wilberforce had become the person he'd been. After finishing the book, I felt I had to read the first part of the book again just to remember how it ended. I've not read the author's first novel yet but I think it'll be worth a look now. ( )

This book is genius. I'm about 3/4 of the way through at the minute. Full review to follow. :) ( )