The Raw Sharks Texts - Steven Hall (2007)

Först tänkte jag skriva på svenska trots särstavningsförskräckelsen, sedan kom jag på att boken finns bara på engelska så jag kan lika gärna skriva recensionen på engelska. Sedan gjorde jag lite efterforskningar och det visa sig att boken finns också på svenska, men det bli engelska i alla fall.

This book is probably the weirdest book I have ever read. It's so weird that I almost gave up after a few chapters, but I'm glad I didn't. I was given this book by a friend who purchased it while in the Canary Islands on holiday, which I think just adds to its mysticism. It starts like this:

Eric Sanderson wakes up in a place he doesn't recognise, unable to remember who he is. All he has left are journal entries recalling Clio, a perfect love now gone.

It also begins with an envelope containing a letter and a map. The letter begins:

Eric, first things first, stay calm. If you're reading this, I'm not around anymore. Take the phone and speed dial 1.

You start this book thinking "oooh", then you get into the story and you're like "what!?", and rather quickly you reach the end and you're left with "huh?", but in a good way. In fact this book can be interpreted in different ways, you make your own ending, in a sense.

I just wiki'd the book and apparently it's even weirder than I thought. There are hidden chapters still yet to be discovered, so the book doesn't end when you finish reading it. Eh? This book won't change your life but it's definitely worth reading because it's something else, and that's always different; or perhaps you should read it because it's different, and that's always something else.

Here are some comparisons other reviewers have made to give you a sort of idea:

"Jaws meets Alice In Wonderland" - Times Literary Supplement
"The bastard love-child of the Matrix, Jaws and The Da Vinci Code." - Mark Haddon

"Donnie Darko meets Memento and Jaws" - Independent on Sunday

And here's a link to the Swedish edition: Adlibris

//tsididi