This was long-listed for the Man Booker prize in 2006. I think I understand why it didn`t get further.
A difficult book to get into at the beginning. The prologue doesn`t help it start (the prologue is there to set the scene). However things improve as you get past the prologue and into the story. Once listening to the main character, Gideon Mack, you are drawn into his rather sad world. Many sons of the manse would probably deny that Gideon is a product of his upbringing, but it can,t go unnoticed. An early failure to understand his father, or for his father to understand him, sets a chain of events in progress and it is almost inevitable that Gideon should follow his father into the Church.
This is definitely the story of someone struggling to understand the world he is in, and never really managing to grasp any meaning. Do the events really happen to hi, or are they the result of a deranged mind. We never get a true answer. In fact, at the end we are presented with further questions. As part of his recounting is finally revealed as a lie, the lie makes it harder to place the other events. The lie told is in an unexpected direction and it is hard to see what purpose it holds in this complicated life.
Despite the slow start, I found myself getting drawn in, trying to understand more. I still don`t understand what the author is trying to tell us, but maybe that doesn`t matter. Do we read to learn about the author, to simply escape for a while, or to learn about ourselves by the questions that are raised.
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