Big and baffling. Feels like it needs a re-read to comprehend, but it is big. There are Big Themes of socialism and capitalism and Freud and subconscious, but it's hard to know how seriously any of it is being taken. The parts (Books) that are fantastical are sort of compelling and sort of tiresome—lots of visual imagery and description that I find hard to keep in mind. The time-mangling stuff is well done, though. Plot is picaresque in these parts. The parts (Books) that are realist-ish are kind of straightforward and very much a reminder that the 1950s are now an awful long time ago. The protagonist is both fully realised and a cypher. The sexual politics and general attitude to women are both pretty dated. The whole is somehow less playful than I expected from Gray, though there is the odd good joke. It's certainly an achievement but I don't know what it achieves. ( )

https://www.astridterese.no/2014/06/20/lanark-et-liv-i-fire-boker/ ( )

Wow! Joyce meets Vonnegut in Glasgow. Wohda thought? Wow! ( )

This book was a bit patchy and long for me. There were sections I really enjoyed and yet as a whole I wasn't quite convinced by it. It's weird and inventive with some very memorable scenes, but its what I would characterise as 'men's fiction' where the women tend to be a bit poorly drawn and unconvincing. I probably most enjoyed some of the deconstruction towards the end. Its quite disjointed between the realism of books 1 and 2, and the fantasy of books 3 and 4, which by the way are not in that order in the book. I feel like its very much a curate's egg, but it's a cult classic and I'm glad I've read it. ( )

Fascinating, confusing, weird. I can't even begin to offer a plot synopsis. I was fascinated by parts and bored to tears by other parts. Epic strangeness that nevertheless strikes amazingly close to home at times. A novel not soon forgotten. ( )