All done! I got through this a lot quicker than I did Dune- even though the subject was heavier, Dune is far more dense, with the multitude of intertwining subplots. hidden was in some ways easier to follow, and in some ways harder, especially in the beginning, when Ahmed is drugged. And all through the book, his mental state is confused and a bit disjointed.
I press Pause. My arm's wet. I look up. It's sprinkling. The gray skies gone black. Rain's on the way.
Crack!
Lightning. The sky blinks. The man's face flashes on the clouds.
Crack! Lightning. The switchblade catches the light.
Crack! Lightning. Quick, Bob slices the boy's throat.
"No!" I shut my eyes, shake my head. Maybe that will erase the image from my mind's eye. I wonder. Are Bathroom Bob and Burger Bob the same Bob?
I press Play.
But it doesn't bother me much; just like the reader finds this kind of writing hard to follow, Ahmed is struggling to understand himself. It reminds me strongly of an Animorphs book I picked up once, many years ago. The writing for the series was usually clear and easy to read. In this one, though, the person who is telling the story is having her perceptions altered, so that she doesn't know what is real and what is false, bounced around like a yo-yo from one possible hallucination to another and back. It was tougher going for that reason, but I felt like I really understood the character's emotional state, just like with Ahmed.
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