Subdivision

Weird book, and I do like 'em weird.

It had shades of Alice in Wonderland, though the blurb mentions Gulliver's Travels. I also see the Wizard of Oz comparisons, as well as Piranesi and any book or movie where a character is taken out of the real world and has to learn the rules of a new one.

I understood what was happening/had happened about half way through so I'm guessing there isn't meant to be a twist factor. After I figured it out, the rest of the story was spent waiting for the narrator to do the same.

I might have liked it more if I had empathized with her. She was more likable when confused and I could root for her to figure out the puzzle, both external and internal. Moments when she would suddenly act out scenes from her past you see a neurotic person involved in a toxic relationship. This does help put together a story but it is so extreme that it feels like a cliche, maybe because it's a one-sided view of the relationship.

There are certain elements to this that I still don't get —Cylvia's transformation, all the quantum physics stuff. Perhaps that is the genius of the book, and I'll just be walking along some day and suddenly the meaning will hit me.

Very, very weird, in an interesting and satisfying way. Most surrealist book seem to start out fairly realistic and then become less and less so throughout. This one started out bizarre and never really stopped feeling this way. The world and characters were intriguing and the plot and symbolism were well executed.