'I read it before the film came out'. Doesn't every person
fairly famed for their rapid and voracious reading say this. Honestly, it's the
truth though, I've not been near a bloody cinema for ages. Bloody kids, my son
isn't exactly famed for his ability to sit down and be quiet. I bought this
book after reading 'The Circle' also by Eggers, rather than moving on to his
most famous book 'A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius' again a bit of
book snobbery. Haha I say, I'm better than this author's best work.
It's a slightly out of my comfort zone in terms of subject
matter simply because the premise sounds rather dull. A man goes to Saudi
Arabia to sell IT to King Abdullah. As in most books 'stuff happens' to make it
a bit more intriguing than this. Things don't exactly go well for Alan Clay,
and there's something of the 'Waiting for Godot' within this part of the story.
The story itself seems to morph into a bit of a musing on not the meaning of
life exactly, but about what it is to exist and about futility. The desert
setting echoes this.
There are a few things that I didn't get in this book and
perhaps therefore it warrants a reread. There are some aspects of Alan Clay's
past, such as the death of a friend, that didn't seem well developed. It's also
set at the same time as the Global Financial Crisis and an interview with
Eggers in the back of the book seems to suggest this is a major aspect of the
story. I didn't seem to see much of this myself. I guess perhaps anything
financial tends to go straight over my head. You can imagine the state of my
bank account and you're right.
I was fascinated by the setting, specifically the laws
around drinking alcohol and the role of women. The methods by which these things
are subverted definitely intrigued me but I do wonder, )despite what seems like
some excellent research) how accurately an American, male writer can portray
the situation for women in Saudi Arabia.
This is definitely worth a read if you enjoy a novel that
feels modern, even if it isn't set in the present day. There are no speech
marks and the prose is quite punchy. It's quite an easy read. I think lots of
us will identify with the character of Alan even if we're not middle aged and
male. He has some very human faults. The ending was good too.
I won't be rushing out to see the film, but I will give in
the hype and read 'Staggering Genius'. Next stop, more books set in the Middle
East. It continues to be an area of the world where there are such rapid changes
and where countries have very differing characters. No fiction is every going
to completely accurately portray life elsewhere, but it widens our perspective,
that's always what we all need.
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