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Below
The intricate and arduous underground world of caving is the setting for this prizewinning first novel of quest and self-discovery. Beautifully written and engrossing, it comes to a spellbinding conclusion in the deep chambers of Deadman's Cave. Below won the Adam Foundation Award in 2000.
208 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 28, 2024
Spoiler-free review
It’s odd that this novel has so much in common with The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy, which was published in 2022. Both novels explore topology (an obscure branch of mathematics), incest, wandering around a city visiting bars, and a weird mystery in which someone has died (maybe?) in impossible circumstances in ‘the deep’ — a mystery which is never solved, because mysteries in literary novels are never solved.
I must admit I struggle with main characters who have incestuous thoughts, are sexually attracted to everyone they meet, are unable to love or connect with anybody, and are probably insane, which are also things this book has in common with The Passenger.
Readers might enjoy it who like literary New Zealand fiction and don't mind unlikeable characters.
It’s odd that this novel has so much in common with The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy, which was published in 2022. Both novels explore topology (an obscure branch of mathematics), incest, wandering around a city visiting bars, and a weird mystery in which someone has died (maybe?) in impossible circumstances in ‘the deep’ — a mystery which is never solved, because mysteries in literary novels are never solved.
I must admit I struggle with main characters who have incestuous thoughts, are sexually attracted to everyone they meet, are unable to love or connect with anybody, and are probably insane, which are also things this book has in common with The Passenger.
Readers might enjoy it who like literary New Zealand fiction and don't mind unlikeable characters.
Displaying 1 of 1 review