my third Russell Hoban and i think i’ve been spiked with sth cuz despite all the weirdness and bizarreness and non-making-sense-ness, i could not unglue my poor eyeballs from this book. not until i realised the next page was the ad for his other books (oh my). well, before i am physically, mentally, and spiritually ready for the next one, i need a good gulp of something incredibly normal (or, frankly, maybe not read for a few days…weeks?…) and a therapy session to make sense of what the hell just happened. 

Hoban’s attention to objects, perceptions, and, in his own, often comical, way, people is unmistakable here. here we have some of his favourites: the rosehip tea (but what about potato pancakes?), the lonely man who longs for his “destiny woman” (who has run off with some artist/producer/geologist/parachutist - honestly, anyone), contagious affection for London (especially London Underground), references to artworks, the mess in the room as a separate being (did Hoban write anything on hoarding? pls say yes), and words that don’t exist but should because they make you smile (”novembering” is now a verb in my weather vocab). even when people tell you about seemingly the strangest details of the plot, Hoban’s eccentricity remains pretty much unspoilerable.  once you read a few of his books, these details can seem repetitive, but they also create a mini-universe that welcomes you into its weirdness… and then messes with your brain.

while i still (weeks later) cannot understand what the heck happened, i can say this for sure: Hoban, for me, is one of those writers who break traditions and seize language to create their way of telling a story, of narrating an experience. if you get absorbed in his writing (i’m not saying “get used to” - impossible), you’ll likely keep reading even when a man is talking to the head of Orpheus on the banks of the Thames. it’s addictive, it’s inventive, and it knows no boundaries.
 

perhaps, it is a blessing to not correlate all of the symbols contained in this book.  
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more thoughts to come.  
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actively recovering for the celebration of RH’s 100th birthday on 4th feb 2025.