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• I was excited to read this novel as I was very impressed by the author’s dark style in Caribou Island. I was, unfortunately, disappointed in his latest effort here. Having read Caribou Island, I went into Dirt fully expecting to be swept into a horrifyingly dark world. So it was no surprise to land in a world of family violence, incest, and mental illness. While fairly graphic and not for the faint of heart, the author’s writing style is compelling. It speaks to his talent that despite my developing a near contempt for the characters, and a feeling of exhaustion as the plot seemed to drag, I finished the novel. I think I finished it only because his writing style is so stark, horrifying and riveting that it’s just impossible to turn away. Sadly, the gripping writing is the only saving grace here. The author writes of family pathos in a way that is so horrifying you have to keep reading in spite of your horror. The far-reaching consequences of family dysfunction, taken to its most extreme conclusion, are presented without holding any punches. But the actions of the characters are so extreme, and so horrific, that it was impossible to find any kind of a foothold to connect with any of them. Where in Caribou Island, the reader got to witness the characters’ slow spiral, and thereby connect with their humanity before it unraveled, here we are introduced to characters already past the point of no return and for whom it was just not possible, at least for me, to develop any kind of concern.The pace of the plot was not even, and the tension not consistent enough to prevent the novel from feeling like a slog in many places. The first third dragged, the middle third picked up and showed some promise, but in the final third, any tension generated by the climax of the novel was undone by the main character’s lengthy free associations about transcendence. These often occurred just as plot tension was finally building, so that reading the last portion became endlessly frustrating. In the end, I continue to admire the unique and stark writing style of this clearly talented author. I wish I had enjoyed this latest effort much more than I did, but while the writing style continues to impress, the lack of character development and the inconsistent pacing made this a difficult read.

  2.00 out of 5

  Litfan

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