I liked this and would like to read more by the author.

The trouble with some intellects is that they love being.....well, intellectual. Maybe the members of his 'club' enjoy his intellectual wit , but this was the most borring book I have read to date. The protagonist is a reference librarian and the book is referred to as an 'engaging literary THRILLER.' With all due respect to my librarian friends, how thrilling can a reference librarian be?

Just a little too precious for me.

Self-consciously pretentious.

It had potential as literary fiction combined with a sort of literature-based thriller. But overall....meh.

The premise was better than the execution. It was complicated, but not grand.

This is a very odd book in that it is a book about book writing, yet it is also a mystery, a "complication" (hence the book title). The protagonist, a research librarian, is hired by a man of means, who wants to fulfill a dream of finding a watch that was commissioned by Marie Antoinette. The watch is subsequently stolen from a museum and the "man" hires the research librarian to find (by means of library research and other activity) based on information that the man possesses. It is an intriguing ; and yet, exciting mystery (complication), hence the book title. It was a fun read!

librarian in fiction

Part of a series. Both were great reads.

That was a fun ride! This book had a lot to offer that appealed to someone like me. The main character is librarian and he goes on a romp through history using the library and other avenues. What's not to like? If you are looking for a mystery that has some of the same feeling as Tey's Daughter of Time, you might like this one. Here are a few quotes that struck me.

"Festinalente = Make haste slowly. A private challenge to the fast-paced mediocrity society teaches us to worship." (I know that this was a motto for the likes of Augustus and I think I need to make it a motto for me as well.)

"The viewer paints the picture,
The reader writes the book,
The glutton gives the tart its taste,
And not the pastry cook."

"I'm only saying that librarians often don't do feelings all that well. It's no accident that Dewey avoided categories of sorrow and despair."

"If you're so keen to know who I am, take a look around. My life is best narrated in the objects I collect. I am defined by the whenceabouts of things kept close at hand.
Whenceabouts?
The stories behind objects. What more typically is called provenance." (Anyone who makes up such an awesome word is okay in my book!)

The plot line was interesting, though nothing earth shattering. What I think I really liked about this book was the main character. He was a librarian, and there were a lot of references to things that I had no idea existed. Which is fun. This review is sounding very lame, but whatev. Its a good read, go pick it up....

OK.

Onvan : The Grand Complication - Nevisande : Allen Kurzweil - ISBN : 786885181 - ISBN13 : 9780786885183 - Dar 368 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2001

Pretentious rubbish.