Reads like the lyrics to an indie rock song or a teenage poem but stretched out to 180 pages. ( )

https://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2016/01/21/a-multiplicity-of-narra... ( )

To describe this book, I can't do better than to quote this passage from the introduction:

"A School for Fools" is a journey through the mental landscape of a nameless, schizophrenic adolescent which he relates with the assistance of an author figure who may be the boy's older self. Through the kaleidoscopic prism of the teenager's schizoid mind, we share his bizarre perceptions and attempts to come to terms with the surrounding world. The boy, who refers to himself as 'we', perceives himself and several other characters as two distinct but related persons, each with his or her own name. Much of narrative is interior dialogue between the two halves of the boy's mind, or interior monologues ostensibly directed toward often unidentified characters. Nor can the boy perceive time, or events in time, in any fixed order; past, present, and future are random and intermixed. These aberrations determine the unorthodox form of the novella. There is, in the ordinary sense, no plot, but rather an ever swirling verbal collage."

To give you a sense of what this means, here is just the opening part of the first paragraph:

"All right, but how do you begin, what words do you use? It makes no difference, use the words: there, at the station pond. At the station pond? But that's incorrect, a stylistic mistake. Vodokachka would certainly correct it, one can say 'station' snack bar or 'station' news stand, but not 'station' pond, a pond can only be near the station. Well, say it's near the station, that's not the point. Good, then I'll begin that way: there, at the pond near the station. Wait a second, the station, the station itself, please, if it's not too hard, describe the station, what the station was like, what sort of platform it had, wooden or concrete, what kind of houses were next to it, you probably recall what color they were, or maybe you know the people who lived in the houses near that station? Yes, I know, or rather I knew, some of the people who lived near the station, and I can tell you something about them, but not now, later sometime...."

When I first began to read the book, it made little sense to me. However, after reading the introduction, and understanding that the narrative is primarily an interior dialogue between the two characters the narrator believes himself to be, the novel became a little easier to comprehend. While I think I understood substantial sections of the book, there were still many parts that went right over my head. However, I still enjoyed the book, and the journey it took me on. I would recommend the book if you enjoy unconventional, difficult books, and don't mind still being puzzled by what you've read when you finish the book. ( )

The best book in the world ( )