Small, weird, funny, unexpected, fantastic. ( )

What would happen if you came home to find your house completely empty - Every piece of furniture, every picture, every physical memory of your life was gone? The Clothes the Stood Up In, explores the stress of loss and the chance of rebirth. ( )

Maurice and Rosemary Ransome return home from a night at the opera to discover that their flat has been burglarized. Everything, from the casserole in the oven to the toilet paper, has been taken. In the weeks following the bizarre theft, the middle-aged couple are suddenly forced to answer some difficult questions about themselves, namely, "Who are we without our possessions?" Their individual reactions to the situation highlight their response to this question.

After reading The Uncommon Reader and loving every moment of it, I was interested in finding more by the same author. From the description on it's cover, this book sounded like a light, amusing read. Since this is technically Bennett's first novel (novella might be more appropriate), I went in without any real expectations.
Unfortunately, I was not impressed by this book. The premise is intriguing and has a lot of potential and the prose is at times very eloquent, but it just didn't do anything for me. With a topic that is capable of such depth, this book could have been so much more. It started out all right but towards the end, it seemed to go off in a different and unrelated direction, almost as if the author himself wasn't sure where his story was going.

I don't regret reading this book. It was entertaining, at times funny, and even a little bittersweet. It was enjoyable. Not nearly as enjoyable or thought-provoking as Uncommon Reader, but not a bad read either. It is not a book that will stick with me for long, nor one that I will find myself thinking over a year from now. I have no plan to read this again or add it to my collection.
I would recommend this book to someone who is a fan of Bennett's other work and perhaps to anyone who enjoys British humor. The last quarter of the book contains some sexual content in the form of an audio tape recording. Nothing is explicitly described, but it could be uncomfortable for those who are sensitive to it. Those who wish to avoid such content might want to skip this read altogether. ( )

odd, funny, a little sweet, a lot sad ( )

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4... ( )