De La Pava has an ear for language: the way it evolves and sometimes devours itself. The exchanges between Riv and his cousins, Mauro and Fercho, provide the novel’s funniest, most revealing passages ... De La Pava’s commitment to ideas — their creation and their interrogation — is so fervid that it lights up his prose. Riv wants to take us somewhere new, as intellectual strivers always want to, whether their stories are bound within a philosophical argument, a sweeping historical epic or a good old-fashioned detective yarn. It’s invigorating to be dropped in the middle of such an effort and to feel that whatever we might guess is coming next, the truth is likely to be much, much stranger.
The demolition derby of interests and influences creates a similarly freewheeling effect. But as it continues to toggle between Riv’s solemn musings about 'life in all its multidimensional terror' and scenes of Exeter’s comic-book villainy, the story comes to feel fatally undecided, lodged somewhere between earnest philosophical inquiry and blithe entertainment.
This work is not your everyday mystery, but listeners looking for a work that asks hard questions through a unique format with a lofty vocabulary will think about this story for a long time to come.
This fantastical, spectacular, riveting tale is incredibly well-written, and it gives off a vibe that is fiercely intense and consuming. An existential detective thriller from an engaging writer and thinker.
