Sunday, March 06, 2005
The Ruined Map
I just finished this book and I am wondering if the two burbon and waters helped or hindered me in understanding this surrealist book. I am not too picky all I ask for in a book is a few stable places to gather my barings before jumping into the next plot laberenth. This book had no such areas, I do not know if I really understand it and I really do not know if we are supposed to.
The basic plot is that a woman hires a private investigator to look for her husband who has been missing for almost half a year. The clues are scant: a worn matchbook with two different kinds of matches and a photograph.
One of the persistant themes of the book is that every person's life is a map and in order to understand that person's life you must first construct their personal map. The missing husband's map is unfinneshed and does not make a whole lot of sense and as the investigator progresses into the mystery his life and map becomes increasingly fragmented and ruined.
To tell the truth I do not know if I liked this book. I think one of the problems is that it was originally written in japanese and translated in the 70's...so the original meaning of the book might of been lost in the translation and much of it seems dated in its machismo sexism.
It is one of those paradoxical books where it is an easy quick read, but it is almost impossible to get a grasp on.
review
The basic plot is that a woman hires a private investigator to look for her husband who has been missing for almost half a year. The clues are scant: a worn matchbook with two different kinds of matches and a photograph.
One of the persistant themes of the book is that every person's life is a map and in order to understand that person's life you must first construct their personal map. The missing husband's map is unfinneshed and does not make a whole lot of sense and as the investigator progresses into the mystery his life and map becomes increasingly fragmented and ruined.
To tell the truth I do not know if I liked this book. I think one of the problems is that it was originally written in japanese and translated in the 70's...so the original meaning of the book might of been lost in the translation and much of it seems dated in its machismo sexism.
It is one of those paradoxical books where it is an easy quick read, but it is almost impossible to get a grasp on.
review
# posted by Tom Smith @ 8:15 PM 
