As I began reading, I grew fond of the character The First Chapter centers on, Sasha, who works in the music industry and is struggling with her kleptomania. Going on reading, I found did none of the other chapters Took up her perspective again.
I find this a difficult thing to deal with When I am reading a novel: I hate getting to know a character, beginning to feel for them and Their conflicts, and then see them Completely abandoned in later chapters. So, some pages into Chapter 3 or 4, I found myself getting impatient, even angry at the author. I Decided to give the book the benefit of the doubt (after all, it's a Pulitzer Prize winner!) And continued.
And I found myself rewarded. This book gets better with every chapter. While each of them tells the story from a different point of view, They all blend together and tell a fascinating story about people and Their Lives. We begin to learn more about Sasha - her adolescence, her experiences as a lost young woman, her way towards a little more happiness ... We thus learn more about the other characters and get to see what happens to them, Where They Came From etc.
The novel grew more and more fascinating THUS the more I kept reading. Egan even dares to tell one of the chapters as a "slideshow diary" and it works.
Time and its passing are On important topic - the novel's title is somewhat illuminated by the statement of one of the characters that "time is a goon," as well as the characters personal development over These Years, Their loss of youth, Their Way to - if not happiness - a feeling of contentment.
If you like to experimental narrative structure and if you enjoy to follow characters' development over time, this will be a rewarding read.
