This is a book I'm not sure what I read, or if I like, but I certainly want more of it. The unnamed Linguist in this book wanders around, not understanding even though the words make sense are in the correct order, but the meaning seems to be malleable....

Its beautiful writing, but infuriating all at the same time - what is happening, why is it happening, what does any of it mean will drive a reader batty. I think the length of a book is an asset - any longer and will get bogged down in the almost makes sense language. The length also means its easy to re-read, although on second reading, was much like the first - comprehensible incomprehensibleness, if that makes sense.

Any way, you should read it. Even though you may throw this book at the wall. ( )

While this book started off somewhat remote and alienating, it gradually unfolds into what is less a direct experience of events and more a rumination on place and what it means to be of and in a place. I'd compare it to Jan Morris' Hav, but Event Factory is less a mirror image and more a refraction, a re-thinking of how to present the ideas contained in a space and time that the observer remains only on the edge of understanding.

Near the end, the unnamed narrator makes an observation that, while not a complete understanding, I think points in the direction of the heart of this book: "My wanderings began to lead me repeatedly to the same predicament: standing in relation to something I could not see. But, I reasoned from that elevated place, my time here had proved that what one 'couldn't see' was not always what was there." ( )

I did manage to take in the entire book, but most of it was beyond me. I'd need to take the companion seminar to get any real value out of it. ( )

What a thoroughly strange and beguiling book! The writing clear but poetic, although clear may be the wrong word. Simple sentences so perfectly drawn that they manage to imply sense without ever providing it. Much like the main character in this story experiences as she explores the country (city?) of Ravicka. Crystalline obtuseness seems an oxymoron, yet that is what I keep coming back to. A "simple" story that passes like a yellow mist too close to your eyes - you experience it but then as soon as it is passed you realize you have no hold or comprehension of what you just witnessed. Quite beautiful. ( )

My review of Event Factory is currently posted on Tarpaulin Sky blog: http://tsky-reviews.blogspot.com/2011/03/renee-gladmans-event-factory-reviewed.h... ( )