Surreal is the only word that can be applied to this mind-twisty, somewhat headache-inducing novel, which I bought long, long ago upon the recommendation of the Amazon algorithm that has, to date, found me most amenable to most of its suggestions of books I might like.
Once again, Amazon proves how well it knows me — even back then — because I liked this book a lot.
Especially when I understood it. Which was… not always.
Because time travel. Ugh.
Our protagonist is also our author, Charles Yu, who is well-versed in the vagaries of said time travel, and the trappings thereof, with which his corner of the multiverse is well supplied. Yu’s father actually invented time travel, then disappeared, and it is the search for this visionary that takes up much of the narrative. But there is so much more going on here. There is profundity, and humour, and a deep understanding of the genre as a whole.
It’s an incredibly impressive work.
And I did like it a lot.
But now my head hurts.
Because time travel. Ugh.
SCORECARD
TBR DAY 298: How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
GENRE: Science Fiction
PUBLISHED: 2010
TIME ON THE TBR: ~8 years.
PURCHASED FROM: Amazon.
KEEP: Yep.
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