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comment by b_b
b_b  ·  3922 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Monthly resolutions

I have very mixed feelings about Something Happened. I read it. It might as well be titled Nothing Happened. Heller's style is amazing and some of his bits of insight are off the charts, but for a relatively long novel to lack a plot was a bit dull for my taste. After a while I just got bored.





Jeshk0  ·  3922 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I definitely understand. The reason I like Something Happened so much is because of how in-depth it is into Bob Slocum's life. It's an everyday tragedy of a common man; unhappy, unfulfilled, with all of his best years behind him. Like I said before, Heller is incredible when writing about futility. Having the climax two pages before the end of the novel made the novel for me. The novel ends where Bob's life ends (in a figurative sense).