The Man Booker 2014 Readalong discussion

Will you be reading J?

This release has now been brought forward to August 14th 2014.

Just finished this and enjoyed it. I approached it with some nervousness. Firstly, the last book by Jacobson that I read was The Finkler Question and I really didn't like that. Secondly, people keep comparing this to 1984 and Brave New World and those are some big shoes to fill. However, it turned out to be a really good read. The main advantage over The Finkler Question, for me, is that I actually cared about the two main characters. I found that there weren't many surprises in the plot of this one and I think you sort of know where it is going almost from the start, but that doesn't matter as you are rooting for Kevern and Ailinn and care what happens to them. The writing is excellent although there were a few places where I felt the author had tried a bit too hard to work it round to something clever he wanted to say.

Overall, it was a very satisfying read: I gave it 4 stars.

I just started this yesterday and am already 65% done! It is written wonderfully and is very engaging. I can see why they make parallels to 1984 and BNW. I'm really enjoying it.