Abalieno posted:

I skim read it and found the writing dreadful, characterization fake and inch-deep, and actual plot trite and mystified without a single idea that's worth something.

And the revelation at the end of the book? Are you kidding me? Take a random guess, whatever you say will be right 99% of the times. Call that originality.

I'm convinced this book won a prize because it's so short that they rewarded it because no one wants to work hard anymore. Paid reviewers LOVE this because you can read it in a couple of hours and feels like FREE MONEY. It's just a pretense of a book. An imitation of good writing and good plot. And then people love it because they love what some institution tells them to love. The book won a prize, so it must be GREAT.

I mean:
"Before my wife turned vegetarian, I’d always thought of her as completely unremarkable in every way."

"the inferiority complex I used to have about the size of my penis"

"The only respect in which my wife was at all unusual was that she didn't like wearing a bra."

"Her voice as it sounded over the phone, always somehow more distinct than in person, never failed to send me into a state of sexual arousal"

"Well, I was in a dream, and I was standing on my head … leaves were growing from my body, and roots were sprouting from my hands … so I dug down into the earth. On and on … I wanted flowers to bloom from my crotch so I spread my legs; I spread them wide … "

"Can only trust my breasts now. I like my breasts, nothing can be killed by them. Hand, foot, tongue, gaze, all weapons from which nothing is safe. But not my breasts. With my round breasts, I’m okay."

"She was standing, motionless, in front of the fridge. The potential options all filled me with fear."

Is this good writing? Really? If you told me this was a parody I'd believe it.

You can look up the preview on Amazon, the book is so short you can basically read half of it for free. It VERY BARELY qualifies as a "novel" because its word count is just at the edge of a novella.

P.S.
You want that flavor of mysterious, evocative mystification, but AT LEAST done competently? Forget this book even exists and read "The Vorrh", by B. Catling.