What I'm reading at the moment: Number 9 Dream

Phew! Just _finally_ finished David Mitchell's second book, Number 9 Dream. I was a little bit underwhelmed, but there's some potential hiding in there.

For all its 'wacky' postmodernity, Number 9 Dream is a typical coming-of-age novel from a young novelist. I suspect, in fact, Mitchell actually wrote this - or large parts of it- before Ghostwritten became a success.

Eiji Miyake is nineteen, and in Tokyo in search of the father he's never met. In between romance and trying to track his father down, he gets caught up in a Yakuza gang war and find his life on the line. Will Eiji find the peace and closure he wants? Take a guess.

There's a few problems with this novel, quite a few. Firstly, at over 450 pages, this puppy is about 200 pages too long. A hundred could have been chopped without the slightest difference, including an absolutely moronic "experimental" section in the middle (sigh, I really do hate "experimental" writing. 99% of the time it ends up neither experimental, nor writing.).

Secondly, Mitchell seems torn about the kind of book he wants to write. Half is a Norwegian Wood-esque stroy of a young man, and emotions, etc. (the book actually begins with a situation from a Murakami novel and short story, took me ages to remember where I had read it before). The other is a Banana Yoshimoto, "crazy" Japanese adventure with far out stuff, surreal, postmodern etc. Needless to say, the two genres don't always gel that well. For all their brio, the Yakuza elements of the story are pretty stupid, and clash with the more thoughtful elements Mitchell brings.

That said, there is some solid prose in here. Mitchell - having lived in Japan for quite some time - has certainly picked up many of the country's writing antecedents. Short, declarative sentences build up a kind of deadpan solliloquy. If only he yielded to that sense of control a bit more, I feel like the novel - for all its slight story - would have been stronger.

I don't regret reading Number 9 Dream, and in the future I might read another Mitchell, but I can't really recommend this book except for those with a mild curiosity in it.