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Rating: 
Summary: Flawed, but remarkably enjoyable
Review: In some ways, this is a rather frustrating novel - I found both the beginning and end to be unsatisfying (albeit for rather different reasons). At the same time, the meat of the text is incredibly entertaining and engaging. Once I'd made my way through the first 50 pages, which took a few days, I was hooked to the point where I called in sick in order to finish this beast. Let's start with the bad. First of all, Barker's prose is a little off-putting. Her relentless use of similes begins to grate after a while. It's not as if her similes are awful or out of place - it's just that they come along so regularly, and stick out so obviously, that they act as speed bumps to the quite smooth flow of the text. However, after the fist 50 or 100 pages, Barker either stops using them so much or I stopped noticing. Whatever the case, they're a stylistic quirk that doesn't really work for me, but doesn't absolutely ruin everything. Second, I don't feel as though Barker ends this all that well. Everything feels a bit too pat, a bit too neatly wrapped up for such a sprawling beast of a story. I realize that this is a quibble that may very well be personal to me - I tend to prefer novels to be giant meandering messes, without a clear beginning or ending (Infinite Jest, for example) - it might be misguided to blame Behindlings for not meeting my tastes more exactly. Now for the good. Barker's prose is, aforementioned similes aside, absolutely breathtaking. She has a rhythm and a flow that is both effortless and beautiful. Time and time again, I found myself reading a sentence, stopping, and then rereading and rereading it, gobsmacked at its perfection. What else? The characterization is nicely done. Wesley is a lovely and compelling little anti-hero, and has incomprehensible depths that, I trust, will be plumbed on rereadings. The story itself is a shambling meandering thing, rather like the straggling, meandering Behindlings who give this book its title. It's the sort of story I like - fans of more rigorously plotted novels would certainly disagree. All in all, flaws aside, Behindlings is an extremely enjoyable work. It considerable strongpoints more than outweigh the stylistic quirks and weak conclusion. And I believe (though I've yet verify) that this novel is going to not only stand up to, but to be improved by, repeated readings. Worth checking out, if you're not the type to shy away from meandering plots.
Rating:
Summary: Flawed, but remarkably enjoyable
Review: In some ways, this is a rather frustrating novel - I found both the beginning and end to be unsatisfying (albeit for rather different reasons). At the same time, the meat of the text is incredibly entertaining and engaging. Once I'd made my way through the first 50 pages, which took a few days, I was hooked to the point where I called in sick in order to finish this beast. Let's start with the bad. First of all, Barker's prose is a little off-putting. Her relentless use of similes begins to grate after a while. It's not as if her similes are awful or out of place - it's just that they come along so regularly, and stick out so obviously, that they act as speed bumps to the quite smooth flow of the text. However, after the fist 50 or 100 pages, Barker either stops using them so much or I stopped noticing. Whatever the case, they're a stylistic quirk that doesn't really work for me, but doesn't absolutely ruin everything. Second, I don't feel as though Barker ends this all that well. Everything feels a bit too pat, a bit too neatly wrapped up for such a sprawling beast of a story. I realize that this is a quibble that may very well be personal to me - I tend to prefer novels to be giant meandering messes, without a clear beginning or ending (Infinite Jest, for example) - it might be misguided to blame Behindlings for not meeting my tastes more exactly. Now for the good. Barker's prose is, aforementioned similes aside, absolutely breathtaking. She has a rhythm and a flow that is both effortless and beautiful. Time and time again, I found myself reading a sentence, stopping, and then rereading and rereading it, gobsmacked at its perfection. What else? The characterization is nicely done. Wesley is a lovely and compelling little anti-hero, and has incomprehensible depths that, I trust, will be plumbed on rereadings. The story itself is a shambling meandering thing, rather like the straggling, meandering Behindlings who give this book its title. It's the sort of story I like - fans of more rigorously plotted novels would certainly disagree. All in all, flaws aside, Behindlings is an extremely enjoyable work. It considerable strongpoints more than outweigh the stylistic quirks and weak conclusion. And I believe (though I've yet verify) that this novel is going to not only stand up to, but to be improved by, repeated readings. Worth checking out, if you're not the type to shy away from meandering plots.
Rating: 
Summary: behindlings
Review: This book is strangely inventive and imaginative, ironic in some ways, and impossible to leave it untouched for even a day. Not the ordinary hee-haa comedy sort of book, Behindlings leaves you wanting for more after reading every chapter. Barker's style of writing is fantastic, undoubtedly, and the book is, perhaps, colorful. No matter a bookaholic or not, Behindlings is a book worth your time, money, and focus.
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