Late City by Robert Olen Butler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I did not find Late City to be as moving as the blurb claims, but it certainly is visionary in its approach (one continuous narrative, the conversation with God...). I'm also not entirely sure about the relevance of the protagonist's long life and of the year 2016 aside from a reference to the potential election of 'heartless egotists of [...] reckless intelligence'. So although I find the approach interesting in parts, I can't seem to justify it all holistically; inevitably the story is more focused on Sam's ambigious and evolving feelings towards war and pacifism, at the expense of the other characters who I think remain marginalised until the very last pages. Maybe this was intended, I'm unsure. Still, an intersting read with a lot of scope for reflection at the end.



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