“A work of philosophy and art… Each novel Man Booker finalist Deborah Levy writes comes nearer perfection”
NO MAJOR SPOILERS
This book was long listed for this year’s Booker Prize.
This is the story of a man named Saul Adler who lives in England. The time is 1989, just before the Berlin Wall comes down and Saul has to travel to East Berlin to write a favorable article about the German Democratic Republic. When he gets to Berlin he will be showed around by a translator named Walter. Walter has a sister named Luna who is infatuated by the Beatles Abbey Road album, so much so that Saul will have his girlfriend take a picture of himself crossing the toad at its most famous spot. That is the entire basis of the story.
We will watch Saul in Berlin where he will find a new interest in his life in more ways than one, and he will skip ahead in Saul’s future to see the results of his experience in Berlin. In between there will be a couple of accidents all centered around Abbey Road to further expand the story but that’s it.
At 200 pages it is a very quick read. This is the authors third nomination for the Booker Prize without a win. I read one of her other entries Hot Milk and I must say I was surprised that either would have been nominated.
That doesn’t mean it’s a bad book. It’s just overrated.
Reviewed by:
Richard Franco
Added 23rd January 2020
