C

Curiosity. It was curiosity that led me to Tom McCarthy’s novel, C. From the first page through the last, I remained curious and questioning: just what is he doing here and what is this all about? In many respects, this is the most unusual novel I’ve read in a long time. McCarthy riffs on all kinds of “C’s” from the protagonist’s name (Carrefax) to carbon, caul, chloroform, cocaine, communication, cysteine, connection and dozens more. Carrefax behaves with enough eccentricity to feed one’s curiosity and other characters arrive and depart without making much of an impression. Readers with the patience to slog through digressions and disconnections might find pleasure on these pages. For me, it was curiosity that maintained my page turning, and I was as bewildered at the end as I was at the beginning and in the middle. Sample a few dozen pages before deciding whether or not this a novel for you.

Rating: Two-star (Mildly Recommended)
Click here to purchase C from amazon.com.