C

C
by Tom McCarthy

Nomination: Booker Finalist 2010

Date Read: October 21, 2019

C is such an odd book. Parts are intriguing and engaging, but most of it is agonizingly boring. While I've never read McCarthy before, I cannot dispute his talent but this book seemed entirely pointless and Serge a character that I hope to never meet again. The life he lives is adventurous and takes some interesting turns, yet I never found myself engaged with his life.

Serge is a precocious child, always trying to measure up to his sister Sophie, who clearly shines in early abilities with chemistry. While Sophie's life takes a tragic turn, Serge lives a life of relative adventure from England to the German front to Egyptian ruins, he never quite seems to become self-aware. 

His life experience allows him trying on different miens of being such as cocaine and heroin and various types of women. Through all this, what was starkly lacking was any sort of inner life or paradigm with which to understand his own actions or his place in the world. He bobs from experience to experience, floating through life as if on a breeze. This is not to say that his life wasn't challenging but he never challenged himself.

The title is an interesting reference to the element Carbon, which comprises all life. Aside from the frequent references to chemistry, I find this a tad pretentious and can only assume McCarthy was either led astray by an overreaching editor or overreached all by his lonesome. Either way, this was an experience I hope never to repeat.

Looking Forward: Satin Island