Woo boy! This was a romp. A surreal tale of a relative nobody who loses their job and, on the same day, is directed to go to the hospital for a skewed hypotenuse. You read that right. My second Hoban novel, they are emerging as a humorous lover of language, who never hesitates to approach a new theme or plot with wholly new stylistic modality. In this short novel, personification of the universe is taken to a maximum. Yellow paper possesses consciousness and holds dialog with our “Smalltime” eponym, the Underground makes its own decisions on when and where trains travel, Death is a chimpanzee, etc. So, with something like their playful reworking of human ‘parts’ to characteristics of abstract geometry, I never really knew if we were dealing with ‘real’ people or robots. I think they were human — at least right now — and it was intentionally absurdist to reinforce the cold clinical nature of modern life. In a brisk 200 pages, you are entertained with humorous encounters and existential musings verging on philosophical treatises. While quite light and easy to read, there are tones of nihilism in Kleinzeit’s attempt at making sense of the world. So, point of fact, that in the end, I’m not exactly sure what to conclude. As life, perhaps, should be?
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#russellhoban #kleinzeit #surrealist #existentialism #personification #ex_libris_jz

Finished this extraordinary novel last night. Can be interpreted in many ways. I see it as a tart critique of the hamster-wheel of modern medecine and a paen to the redemptive power of love, curiosity and nonchalence. Can recommend. #kleinzeit