03 by Jean-Christophe Valtat
Click here to buy03 by Jean-Christophe Valtat
03
by: Jean-Christophe Valtat.
2010; 96 pages,
rating: 3
(Originally written in French.)
The most interesting thing about 03 is the writing style. Although, I personally thought it was done incorrectly.
I'll start though with the book. The whole thing takes place while a kid is waiting at a bus stop. He notices a girl across the road whom he's admired for quite some time. So, he starts thinking about her, and about the things he's learned from watching her from across the road.
The entire book is one paragraph, one chapter, one thought really.
My biggest challenge with it is this: If the main character is 17 years old, and you're writing in stream-of-consciousness, why are there no fragments. Yes, obviously there would be some run-ons. But, I know from experience, of having been a 17 year old once, that many many thoughts are fragmented. Not every thought I had ran on and on and on. Some break up would be nice.
I do like the thinking behind the style of writing, but it's off just enough to bother me.
The story was ok. It wasn't really great, nor intriguing. And there wasn't a whole lot to keep me reading. If the book had been much longer I wouldn't have finished it actually.
Maybe that's me being overly critical, but I just felt it was rather lackluster so to speak.