Massiel Valladares

The plotless nature of the book is precisely why it's one of my favorites. I think many people find the narrative (or lack thereof) irritating and disappointing because of our obsession with plot, which is more of a reflection of our current media consumption habits than the quality of the book itself. Maybe it's just a matter of personal taste too. I love stream of consciousness style books, like Sartre's Nausea, so Selin's philosophical ruminations were fun to read for me To me, the book was refreshing and insightful, full of seemingly disconnected (though after skimming through it once more, I found many subtle connections between Selin's dreams, conversations with Svetlana, and email exchanges with Ivan) thoughts, actions, and characters. I liked the simultaneous triviality and depth of Selin's thoughts. The humor is pretty dry, I loved it I found the focus on language to be fascinating, especially given the last sentences of the book: "I hadn't learned what I had wanted to about how language worked. I hadn't learned anything at all."