Wow, what a book. Definitely gonna be one of my favorites of the year. Written in 1971, as relevant today as it was back then. On the surface it's an action novel set in the Harlem reinassaince, but it's so much more.

It defies description. It’s like a Pynchon novel from a black POV, creative formatting and a healthy dash of Assassin’s Creed. It’s a cultured take down of American society combined with an action film, a bizarre look into a parallel reality where the Titanic is sailing in 1929 and Moses (of Egypt fame) had a rock band. At times it felt like reading a counterculture pamphlet, or a Freire/Chomsky combined essay, at others like watching a movie Tarantino would rip off and add even more n-words.

In an even more bizarre description, it's what Kuang's Babel tried to do, but by a competent author. It's a real takedown of colonialism and the dominant cultures that has real depth. It's not just a series of stereotypes thrown around. You will come out of this book more educated, asking more questions, with a reading list 5 pages long.

"Fever dream" is overused, but that's what it is. Handwritten pages, unrelated photography, anachronisms, real people weaving in and out of the story.

Has anyone read any other of his books? I understand this is his masterpiece but curious if others match the same vibe.

Edit: Forgot to ask, do you think the art thieves being called mutafikah is intentionally both an Islamic reference and a bastardization of motherfuckers?

I will start by saying I will not read another book by John Grisham. I have read over half of his published works and find his writing style to be an easy read. I know he is a very popular author, and many would describe him as a formulaic writer that produces "page turners that lack substance". Frankly, I am ok with reading page turners at times. I am pushing 60 and I really enjoyed his work in the 1990s. When I came back to reading in the 2010's, he was an author I would read because of my good memories of his early work. But increasingly in the 2020's, I find his books to be very frustrating at times.

Since The French Illusion is new, I will use spoilers for comments on it. I listened to the audiobook, as that is how I consume books these days. And I enjoyed the story and the writing of this book, for the most part. There were some parts that didn't make sense, but pushed the story along. This was a book that I felt as I listened, was broken into two parts. The first half, or even more than half, was setting up the real story. Newlyweds are kidnapped in Paris and the wife is ransomed and released while the husband is ransomed but not released. Story jumps back and forth between Paul in captivity and events in the outside world where the FBI tries to find him. And then over halfway through, a young lawyer is recruited to be a decoy to be kidnapped in order to save Paul and two other kidnapped Americans. And I thought this was the real plot of the book, following the decoy, Stuart Nash, as he helps in the rescue mission. There is graphic torture scenes of the kidnapped Americans and time is spent on the training of Stuart for the rescue. But there is no rescue. After Stuart is kidnapped, the American government pays a ransom and the men are released. So why did I read about the rescue planning? Why was it important to follow Stuart's recruitment and training? This whole book was a waste of time with the bad guy winning and getting away. Yes, the story was propulsive and built tension, but i need a purpose to reward

my invested time. Why bother with writing how Paul's family is struggling with money if they are essentially forgotten in the second half of the book. Why bother writing about recruiting Stuart and training him if the government is going to end up paying a ransom. I just feel this was a colossal waste of my time.

) saw most of the Doctor Finlay tv series of the 1990's, and quite liked it, and it inspired me to seek out some A.J. Cronin novels. I've now read two or three of his books now and (The Citadel, A Song of Sixpence, A Pocketful of Rye and The Stars Look Down. He has a lot more books and I'm going to look for them. They are a fascinating study of medical practices in the 1930's and 40's in the UK....and I'm surprised at how similar they are to what I experience in my doctor's office or hear about from others here in Canada. A lot of description of ethical dilemmas. I'm wondering if there are any others familiar with his books.....or with other television dramas based on his stories.

I rate things mostly by heart and feeling but as I’m reading so many books I love, I’m finding that I need to be more intricate with my rankings if I want to get an accurate picture. I’m not saying this is a necessity for everyone that rates books, but just my personal preference I’m trying to adopt.

Here is what I have so far:

1.0 - Prose
1.0 - Plot (unless it’s a novel that is mostly plotless)
1.0 - Character(s) - this can be subjective. Enjoyable characters? Character growth?
1.0 - Themes and how they are presented
1.0 - ending
1.0 - Did I feel anything or resonate with the text?
1.0 - ?
1.0 - ?
1.0 - ?
1.0 - ?

I read mostly classic lit and while I’m trying to learn to become more analytical and comprehensive, I think my skills are still at a surface level such as these examples. Does anyone have any ideas to add to this list so I can round out an even 10.0?