armadillo - william boyd
So odd to be reading Armadillo hot on the heels of Ordinary Thunderstorms - they seem like a riff on broadly the same story: corrupt corporate types, lots of London (high and low), identity and how to change or lose it, even the assault with a briefcase... Most odd. But enjoyably so!
Armadillo is a lot funnier than Ordinary Thunderstorms, although it doesn't have a clear Croup/Vandemar. There are a couple of story lines I'm not entirely sure I would have kept in: the LSD subplot and the sleep lab stuff, hmz, not so certain about those. But the Transnistrian family and its assortment of cabbies are lovely, as is the old lady downstairs and the delightfully exciting love interest. Most enjoyable book. Made me want to be back in University, so I could write a good thorough paper about the resemblances between the two stories and how things have changed in London and Boyd's view in those 10 or 11 years.
10-12-2009
