24/05/15: Tim Parks – The Server a.k.a. Sex is Forbidden (2012)

An interesting and not-quite-great novel. The detail of the Buddhist retreat is well handled, and the complex character of Beth is well constructed. The title change was a bad decision: The Server works on several levels and it's a shame that this was replaced with something more tabloid-friendly for the paperback. The story is fairly minimal, but that isn't the point. It's really a book about identity: what makes us who we are? Although I enjoyed it a lot, I don't think it revealed the wit or intelligence of Europa, the novel that made me interested in Tim Parks. That said, I will definitely read more of his books.

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