Book 64 - Russell Hoban "The Bat Tattoo"
Oct. 21st, 2012 11:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jazzy_daveRussell Hoban "The Bat Tattoo" (Bloomsbury)
I haven't read enough of Hoban to know if there is such a thing as a typical Hoban, but I doubt there is. I find Hoban's work easy to read, his prose moves you along and he presents characters who seem consistent and convincing even though the situations they find themselves stretch into the realm of magic realism.
It is the modern day tale of a middle-aged man and woman, both widowed several years ago, who come together after coincidentally getting the same bat (a symbol of happiness taken from a Chinese vase at the V&A) tattooed on their left shoulders. It is a tale of art, loneliness, religious iconography, failure, erotica, mysterious millionaires, and an unfortunate obsession with crash-test dummies.
Weird and wonderful and thus highly recommended.
I haven't read enough of Hoban to know if there is such a thing as a typical Hoban, but I doubt there is. I find Hoban's work easy to read, his prose moves you along and he presents characters who seem consistent and convincing even though the situations they find themselves stretch into the realm of magic realism.
It is the modern day tale of a middle-aged man and woman, both widowed several years ago, who come together after coincidentally getting the same bat (a symbol of happiness taken from a Chinese vase at the V&A) tattooed on their left shoulders. It is a tale of art, loneliness, religious iconography, failure, erotica, mysterious millionaires, and an unfortunate obsession with crash-test dummies.
Weird and wonderful and thus highly recommended.
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