This is one whopper of a book â 700+ pages â crammed with more themes than a magician's hat has rabbits: post-traumatic stress, chaos theory, classic mythology, physical and spiritual labyrinths, family history, substance abuse, blood sacrifice, what makes a marriage, the American penal system, race relations, the search for spiritual peace, a decades-old mystery, and the recurrent and inexplicable appearance of praying mantis images.
In less skilled hands, it would be a hot mess. It's to Lamb's credit that he manages to keep it all together and keep it readable, though at times when he pulls yet another rabbit out of the hat, the reader is hard-pressed to restrain a âwhat now?â groan.
Ultimately, by the end, the main character finds peace when he realizes that life, like a labyrinth, is âbaffling on the ground [but] begins to make sense when you can begin to rise above it.â
It's a big, chewy, thoughtful book with a lot to consider. Don't expect to polish this one off over a weekend, and don't expect to get its questions out of your mind quickly.
In less skilled hands, it would be a hot mess. It's to Lamb's credit that he manages to keep it all together and keep it readable, though at times when he pulls yet another rabbit out of the hat, the reader is hard-pressed to restrain a âwhat now?â groan.
Ultimately, by the end, the main character finds peace when he realizes that life, like a labyrinth, is âbaffling on the ground [but] begins to make sense when you can begin to rise above it.â
It's a big, chewy, thoughtful book with a lot to consider. Don't expect to polish this one off over a weekend, and don't expect to get its questions out of your mind quickly.
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