Given the numerical theme of this book I'm tempted to contribute a few numbers of my own. It's got 420 pages, of which about 400 left me baffled. I speed-read a good 50 towards the end, desperate to have the thing finished. It made me laugh precisely twice.

It's probably my fault. The whole thing is written with the confidence of someone who knows stuff, and who could probably teach you stuff if you could figure out what any of it meant. It's probably best enjoyed by people who read slowly and are comfortable puzzling over every last sentence. People who excel at cryptic crosswords. I am certain that had I read it in this way, the last section would have bloomed into three-dimensional technicolour clarity. But for for readers like me, perhaps lacking in the patience and I daresay intelligence needed, the experience was like chasing a bus, desperate to get on board before it disappears round the next corner, whilst not totally sure it's even the right bus. My mental notes were reduced to staccato non-sequiturs (Anthony loses his trousers...ends up on Kibbutz). Need to practice those cryptic crosswords. ( )

(CEDUTO) L'ho comprato per la copertina (forata di sghembo, un po' ruffiana, ed. Saggiatore). Per le prime 30/40 pag. non ho capito di cosa parlasse. Allora sono andato avanti, inutilmente. Ora l'ho riposto, saggiamente.

I don't know what to make of this book. It was lovely to read and I really wanted to learn about the stories of all the characters. But after reading through nearly three quarters of the book I was still being introduced to new characters and the plot was not yet linking up in any meaningful way. So I quit. But I still kind of wonder how it ended and it it all came together at the last minute? Each chapter seemed to start to new storyline, but the previous chapters remained unresolved. I understand that is a strategy to build tension, but I'd just had enough of the lack of resolution when I put the book down for the final time and sent it back to the library. ( )

http://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2010/02/201013-weight-of-numbers-simon-ings.html ( )

http://blueidol-notesofabookdreamer.blogspot.com/ ( )