this was a slow read for me, but probably i should have read it even slower. it's a very deliberate book, even when it seems to be rambling. the main character is this man who spouts off about so many things, and talks and talks and talks, boring people but having flashes of brilliance. the book is much the same, except the flashes are more frequent if you're paying attention. it wasn't a fun read, although i did laugh at least a handful of times. it's just a really unusual, interesting book. i very much wonder about his other books, if they're anything like this at all, or if this is just a strange little gem that's kind of hard to get through. also, i think that probably the translation was a great one - as intentional as all the language is in this book, i think the translator had to find something allegorical or somehow equivalent in english, and i don't think that was an easy task.
