Habitus

I haven't even finished the book and I already feel I have to share with you that I really, really love it! Habitus mixes space travel, genetics and the comming of age of the computer with Hollywood and the Holocaust --- and in doing so, it doesn't even seem farfetched. Some of the sentences are mere jewels, I can hardly put this book down (although it is easy to do so, since the chapters are pretty short). It is right up there with Tim Powers' Expiration Date!

James Flints depth of knowledge astounded me in his debut, which upon reading gave me a thorough insight into many different areas of modern humanity, that previously I would have shrugged off as too complicated for my humble brain to comprehend(eg chaos theories,astounding mathematical problems and things which will leave your head in a state of thorough confusion for weeks afterwards). Althougth the tempo is slow to begin with, the pieces of the book slowly start to fall into place but the events in the book are widely open to differing personal interpretation which leaves the reader confused on what the hell the author is trying to get at. This odd factor to the book causes it to rise in my opinions as it fits in nicely with the direction the book as it has information coming from so many differing fields thus bringing no monotony to its content. Flint's fresh angle on modern day society gives the reader a rare yet fresh perspective to consider as it is so varied but the extra thought that is required to comprehend the book might prove to be too much for those not used to this more informative style of book.

I like dogs very much, therefore I loved this book. My dog too. He saw the cover and ate it instantly, and personally, I found the pages delicious if cooked right.

I loved Habitus, for his way of intermixing personnal destinies with the great technological discoveries of the century (satellites, computers, genetics). Beautifully written (it could be american), Habitus is the book to read if you like Pynchon, Gaddis and Richard Powers. Such a promising fist novel is more than precious. The structure is masterly orchestrized and the characters won't leave you for a long time. And despite (or thanks to) the extraordinary architecture of the book, there is real emotion. I look forward to read Mr. Flint next novel.