THE RED HOUSE (Mark Haddon) - June 24/12

Wow and I thought Little Bee was disappointing. This is seriously one of the worst books I've read in a very, very long time. Haddon employs this weird, persistently off-putting narrative style in which the story unfolds in impressionistic chunks, but the guy's arty sensibilities ensure that the majority of the characters remain hopelessly underdeveloped. (By the time the book ended, I had a clear handle on maybe a third of the characters.) Haddon's "poetic" style ensures that large swaths of the book are nigh unreadable and it's ultimately difficult to recall a more pretentious and obnoxious writing style. There are a few passable chunks here and there - eg Daisy, the religious girl who discovers that she's gay - but by and large The Red House is nothing short of a complete disaster that made me angrier and angrier as I read it. 1/2* out of ****