31st July 2018

I picked up SNUFF cheap on the basis that the cover stood out a bit. I think I’ve seen it in shops before, but low cost books tend to lead to greater bravery. This time however it wasn’t a winner for me - I set it aside after 50 pages and didn’t feel any urge to go back.

The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where mass media controls everything, and our main character is a film-maker who goes around inciting wars. He tells the story in from an unapologetic first person point of view that really alienated me as a reader.

The choice of language didn’t help. I’m not sure whether the author deliberately decided to make it hard to read, or if this is a side effect of the translation process. I struggle to absorb narratives that don’t have a good natural flow to them, and this didn’t, which really slows down my reading speed and thus my enjoyment of the story, which becomes plodding, awkward and a slow.

So this was a failed attempt at reading something new for me. I’m sure it won’t put me off though.

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