I adored The Longshot and I really enjoyed Gone To The Forest, though not quite as much. Intimacies, for me, comes in third place in terms of the position of reading the books and the enjoyment gained.
There's a quote on the cover of my edition: 'Glitteringly intelligent.' I think it probably is. It feels clever. Almost cold, which puts the title at odds with the story. Perhaps what can be said is that this is a cool series of observations relating to intimicies. There's the unusual relationship with her lover, much of which is at a distance. There's a relationship with a president accused of war crimes, phsically close while also at an intellectual distance. We have the relationship with the law and the legal system, logical and stuck in its ways and hypocracies. New friends whose warmth quickly chills. Perhaps it's telling something of the relationship of a stranger to a strange land (be that literal or not), I'm not entirely sure.
In the end, I feel it was me who was kept at a distance. When I did get close, it seemed to push me away. That's certainly unusual in a read for me, though I'm not sure how to interpret that reaction.
Mostly smooth and efficient, there are some examples of information/research dumps that I could have done without.
It's also listed as one of Barack Obama's favourite reads of 2021 (he sure does get around with is recommendations). Perhaps it was his love of the law that allowed him to fully access Intimacies.
I'm glad I read it, I'll not be reading it again.
No comments:
Post a Comment