A rewarding read
4 steloj
Reading The Girl Who Wasn't There felt like being in the audience for one of David P Abbott's medium unveilings! The novel is written in spare, almost stark, prose and my paperback edition is printed in a larger than normal font with blank pages left between chapters. Together these elements kept me reading at a pretty fast pace so I was aware of hints, clues and moments that just didn't seem quite 'right', but with the skill of a conjuror, von Schirach kept allowing glimpses then diverting my attention away. It's very cleverly done and makes the story both compelling and disconcerting.
This novel explores truth and reality, but shows that the two concepts don't have to be the same to everybody. The narrative is in two halves, each half with its own protagonist whose ideas and experiences seem to oppose each other. Sebastian has synaesthesia so sees the world …
Reading The Girl Who Wasn't There felt like being in the audience for one of David P Abbott's medium unveilings! The novel is written in spare, almost stark, prose and my paperback edition is printed in a larger than normal font with blank pages left between chapters. Together these elements kept me reading at a pretty fast pace so I was aware of hints, clues and moments that just didn't seem quite 'right', but with the skill of a conjuror, von Schirach kept allowing glimpses then diverting my attention away. It's very cleverly done and makes the story both compelling and disconcerting.
This novel explores truth and reality, but shows that the two concepts don't have to be the same to everybody. The narrative is in two halves, each half with its own protagonist whose ideas and experiences seem to oppose each other. Sebastian has synaesthesia so sees the world through an extensive range of colours, many of which aren't visible to other people around him. His wildly successful artistic career has been based on the concept of showing the public alternative views of what they believe to be truth and I would love to see some of the artworks described in the story. I don't know if they actually do exist outside of von Schirach's imagination though!
The Girl Who Wasn't There would benefit, I think, from a different and more enigmatic English title. The original German title translates as 'Taboo' and I'm not sure why it had to be changed. Certainly the Stieg Larssen 'The Girl Who ...' allusion doesn't do this work any favours as its style is far from that kind of thriller. I'd recommend this instead to fans of mid-European fiction and thoughtful crime mysteries. It's an unusual, but a rewarding read.