About the Book
Jonathan Fitch is distraught when his girlfriend, Serafina, leaves him. And so desperate, in fact, that, when the peculiar Mr Rinyo-Clacton makes him an offer of one million pounds with only one year to live, he agrees to the proposal. But soon both Fitch and Serafina find themselves embroiled in Rinyo-Clacton’s strange sadistic games, and Fitch begins to wonder quite what it is that he has agreed to…
The Long Story
Have you read or watched something that, when you were done, you sat and stared blankly for a moment, wondering what you had just experienced? If you have, then you’ll know exactly how I felt when I finished reading this book.
I cannot describe this book better than calling it an ‘experience’. One of the first notes I made while reading this book was about the lack of description and how it felt abrupt, leaving me disappointed in some areas. However, the author decided to have a little fun with me then as he proceeded to describe many things that left me wondering what the point of the description was.
A lot of the book was like this – giving me something and then changing it the moment I made a note (mental or paper) about it. In that, the author was completely successful. While reading, I felt in a nearly constant state of ‘what’s going on’ and ‘what’s going to happen next’. That sort of seemingly aimless confusion won’t be appealing to all readers, though.
In fact, it didn’t particularly appeal to me either, but this book is akin to a car crash which you can’t quite bring yourself to look away from even though ‘polite society’ says you should.
The Short Story
In the end, I’m not sure whether I recommend this book or not. As you may have guessed by the review, I can’t even decide whether or not I like it. Perhaps I will leave it as something you might like to read if you’re looking for something a little out of the ordinary and ‘dark’ in quality. It’s also not too long, so you won’t feel cheated of your time if you decide you don’t like it.
***
Rating: 3 stars
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Mr. Rinyo-Clacton’s Offer
By Russel Hoban
http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/
ISBN: 978-0747561651
Length: 192 Pages