Fred's Reviews > The Alteration

Another quick review. This is a very fun novel, but one that took me three or four tries to get into. Once I did, I read the whole thing in about three days. The beginning is very dense - the central idea takes some time to manifest itself, and in the meantime the reader is left puzzling over what the hell is going on. A melange of highbrow culture is referenced and re-figured in the alternate world Amis has created, and it takes some time to work through it. At least one course in Art History or Architecture is a must for reading this book with any hope of following it. After about 30 or 40 pages the Narrative kicks in, and that is easier to follow and fun to read, but ultimately less rewarding than the beginning of the book.
I was disappointed when the book changed from "what if" ideas thrown at the reader rapidly, into a kind of standard runaway boy story. Finally, the deus ex machina at the end is truly painful - I imagine Amis just wanted to end the book quickly without doing any more research, and threw in the towel. The concept of the novel is fantastic, but I think someone like Neal Stephenson would have had more fun with both creating alternate references of current culture, and done a better job with an action story style narrative. Okay, but I would recommend Anathem by Stephenson for a longer, yet easier to read similar treatment. Good, but not great...