2.5 stars, rounded up because of Goodreads ranking system.
I had high hopes for this book because it was on so many 'best of' year end lists, and I enjoyed The Mars Room. Other than the narrative by the protagonist occasionally being very funny, this book was very boring. Chapters alternate between descriptions of emails written by the founder of a cult-like environmental activist group in which he discusses neanderthals and flirts with nihilism, and the main story in our anti-heroine infiltrates his group. It is the most boring infiltration ever described, consisting of conversations in the library, driving back and forth between the compound and the house where she is staying, drinking beer (which leads to headaches), and a little sex and cliff jumping. I finished it, but it felt pointless.... so I guess in that sense the book was successful?
I had high hopes for this book because it was on so many 'best of' year end lists, and I enjoyed The Mars Room. Other than the narrative by the protagonist occasionally being very funny, this book was very boring. Chapters alternate between descriptions of emails written by the founder of a cult-like environmental activist group in which he discusses neanderthals and flirts with nihilism, and the main story in our anti-heroine infiltrates his group. It is the most boring infiltration ever described, consisting of conversations in the library, driving back and forth between the compound and the house where she is staying, drinking beer (which leads to headaches), and a little sex and cliff jumping. I finished it, but it felt pointless.... so I guess in that sense the book was successful?
