Thursday, November 12, 2009

This Funhole isn't that fun

The Cipher
Kathe Koja

Uh-oh. Nicholas, a would-be poet trapped in video store hell, has found a black hole in the basement. He and Nakota, his sometime girlfriend, become obsessed with it, dubbing it the Funhole and staring into its depths for hours on end.

Then they begin to experiment, lowering down a jar of bugs. Then, a mouse. Even a human hand. They do not return unscathed, the Funhole disturbingly altering them. Soon, they get the bright idea to send down a camcorder. Should be interesting, right?

As you might have guessed, things go from bad to worse for poor Nicholas and Nakota. Unfortunately, the same can be said for the book as a whole.

The impressionistic, often hazy style of writing often created confusion as to what was actually happening (it doesn't help that Nicholas is an alcoholic and not the most clear of narrators).

In a nutshell: Great premise, disappointing execution. (So says the hypocrite participating in nanowrimo. Yes, I'm aware of the irony.)

Bibliolatry Scale: 2 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: I got this one outta the library...thank heavens.




1 comment:

ImageNations said...

that bad? sometimes they are...