Reviews

The Mark and the Void by Paul Murray

Only show reviews with written explanations

laurawright1000's review against another edition

5.0

Funny and angry satire about the banking crisis and the art of writing set in Dublin and featuring an international cast of characters. It made me laugh out loud on public transport several times while still articulating the lunacy of recent high finance and the way that ordinary people have been caught in the chaos. Really enjoyable - must seek out his other books.

runkefer's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

A comic novel of bankers and global economic collapse. Bear with me. Paul Murray's send-up of the financial markets by way of a banker in Dublin gives a "nothing behind the curtain" view of the invisible hand that pulls the levers of our modern world. Along the way it skewers modern art, the publishing industry, and the bloodless calculus of the E.U.'s handling of sovereign debt. And it's hilarious--the darkest kind of comedy that is about the truth.

cazzaman's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

All you never wanted to know about credit swaps and derivatives wrapped up with madcap humour. Featuring such savoury characters as Igor the constitutively politically incorrect brute, Howie the bastard banker, Ariadne the unattainable Greek beauty and Ish the realistic dreamer, amongst other ciphers. If it hadn’t been so funny, the serious analysis of modern banking (simultaneously insane, politically & morally corrupt, and inescapable) would have been a chore. An impressive balance of barmy (shades of Steve Toltz), cynicism and critique. Enjoyable and unsettling. I see what you did there with the self-referential novel.

Reading other comments on Goodreads: maybe because it’s my first Global Financial Crisis novel I appreciated it so much.

caeliniscreepy's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

"Oh, you're very clever," he said. "There are names for people like you!"

I was very clever. He had made me very clever. Now he was annoyed because his gingerbread boy had come to life & run off down the road.

I enjoyed this a surprising amount, considering a lot of it involves banks? The ending saved my life -- otherwise it would've been a quite depressing book about horrible men in a horrible hamster wheel, unable or unwilling to escape. Stories can trap us, but they can also free us kinda! Fun! The women were very escape-ready, it seems to me, which was interesting.

Oh I read this because I loved Skippy Dies as a teen, & who knows where I found that one. I don't remember much of anything about it but I'm waiting for it at the library & in the meantime I thought I'd try this one.