Good read. I was interested in the the 1960s radicals (fictional or otherwise) and what became of them in England. ( )

The summary sounded so much better than the book actually was. ( )

I don't think it is a good sign with a novel when I notice that in every new place, building or room Mike or Chris goes in to we are told how it smells; this is a useful way of setting a scene some of the time but you can overdo it.
That said, this is a very comprehensive and well researched novel about the radical protest movement of 1968 - 1970ish and I felt that the novels narrator Chris /Mike had been there in the thick of it and I experienced the excitement of a demo, the desire to change the world and the camaraderie of a like-minded group with him. The contrast with his life in the present of the early 21st century was sharp and I could see why he was uncomfortable with that. I did start to skim read it at the end, as I felt he was dragging things out a bit too much but it maybe that he had dragged out the early years too much, either way there were just too many words. The novel is about Chris / Mike and everyone else is a bit shadowy and I think the novel is stronger on plot and historical information than it is on character. ( )

Really well done and satisfying tale of Michael Frame, whose past as radical terrorist Chris Carver is about to be exposed. In present tense he tells of his hasty flight from his comfortable middle-class existence (as househusband to natural-beauty-products entrepreneur Miranda and stepfather to her daughter Sam) towards the one trace of his past life he hopes he can still locate; the bulk of the narrative is in the past tense, Michael/Chris describing the history of his radicalization, from the first meetings and marches through the occupations and bombings and on to his new identity, flight, and lost years in Asia. There's also some recent-past recounting of how Michael/Chris came to think he's been exposed or is about to be. The story drifts back and forth, not programmatically but almost casually, rarely letting the reader (listener) think information is being artificially withheld.

It's not light subject matter, but Kunzru keeps the focus on Michael/Chris and his personal relationships, which probably has a broader appeal. Still, one of the best things about the book is that it treats Chris' radical politics seriously; it stops short of condoning terrorism, but neither does it minimize it to an expression of unthinking hatred.

The audiobook narration is superb, with a wide range of English accents deployed clearly and consistently. There's a real tour-de-force section towards the end, a kind of montage of media commentators' responses to the terror campaign, in voices which represent all classes and regions and political persuasions, all of the distinctions coming across clearly even to American ears. ( )

I found myself skimming through the last half of this book to get to the end.I don't like Hippy revolutionary BS, so some dudes youth trying to become 'revolutionary' didn't really interest me too much. Not really the book for me. ( )