This was Hemon's first novel, published in 2002. It's the third book of his I've read but it's the first that has really showed me how brilliant of a writer he is. Within the first few pages I was hooked and didn't want to put it down. There are so many great lines. Here's a few that stick out from just the first few pages:
- "...listening to the mizzle in my pillow,"
- "The blinds gibbered..."
- "The toilet bowl was agape, with a dissolving piece of toilet paper in it throbbing like a jellyfish."
- "The faucet was sternly counting off droplets."
- "Smashing the boxes was my favorite part, the controlled, benign destruction."
- (about a cat, eating a mouse)..."patiently exposing its crimson essence."
- "...a grimace of perplexed horror..."
- "...despair was my loyal ally."
- "...on a steel beam high up above perched a jury of pigeons, cooing peevishly."
His use of similes, adverbs and other modifiers, particularly with smell, offer a unique perspective, often accompanied by a morbid Eastern European sense of humor. Even without context, his sentences spring to life.
