I am not sure what to blame for my exhaustion; this novel, or my continuous reading through all of her books (aside from The Piano Teacher) which kindled the first spark of fascination a few months ago. This novel is repetitive which was tolerable perhaps within the first 200 pages, but afterward returning to musings on the same theme for the nth time was exhausting. The cyclical observations and musings would have been far better suited to a novel half of Greed's length. I only continued to power through it because I'm a filthy completionist, although I read most of the last half absentmindedly.

The setting is a rural mountain town, and the story revolves around a local policeman known around town (especially by the local women), and the disappearance and murder of a local girl. The mountain itself as well as the river into which the victim has been sunk are personified to the point that they figure as strongly as any other character into the plot, although this is only interesting up to a point - again, repetition inevitably spoils the charm.

I enjoyed the three books of hers I read prior to this one, so I figured I could continue through this one with unflagging desire, but it couldn't be so. Unfortunately, Jelinek was not able to maintain my interest across as many consecutive books as Goytisolo has for me.