A Stranger in the Earth

This is the type of book that is so much greater than the sum of its parts. Horace is so old-school British as a character that he's an orphan seeking to find his fortune in London while working for a pittance as a reporter at his Great-Uncle's Newspaper. From here, it's a great gathering of eccentric characters and odd mysteries that could just as easily be set in the 1890s as it was the 1990s. Had Scrabble been invented in the 1890s, that is...and E...and Mr. Egg.

Between the plight of the urban fox, a politician clawing his way out of scandal, a nearly forgotten family scandal and Horace's learning to get around in London, this story manages to become a bit more than your normal fish-out-water tale. Theroux's situations come off as show more plausible and Horace's reactions more than reasonable. The cast of characters are drawn well and stand up on their own. Best of all, there are many things to be read into the book as you go along. One can simply take Horace's adventures at face value, or you can dig a little deeper into the many aspects of change and progress that are donned by people and objects throughout the book. It was a pleasure to read. show less