Harrow: A novel

Quirky. Strange. Unsettling black comic novel of eco-catastrophe. Brilliant some of the time, disjointed much of the time. But such a break from the mainstream! 3.5 stars would be more accurate.

I guess there really is no retirement for the thoughtful and aware environmentalist who would protest the less than sustainable context, in which we find ourselves, also, to be more or less culpable.A cry of moral agony. Not for those who would feel better in an ever deepening state of denial. A deep dive into the absurd, in which there is no sure path to redemption, repentance, or atonement.

This book is insufferable. I love her prose, but I have no idea what I read and couldn’t force myself to finish it… and it ain’t long.

I so wanted to like this book. I've loved her work in the past. But this wasn't to be. Years ago I gave up my resolve to finish everything I read. After plodding ahead, I bought some new books and gave up on Harrow.

This delightfully surrealist, vaguely menacing, and very funny book extrapolates the worst trends of today into the future, then puts the resulting world through the wringer of multiple unreliable narrations by children sounding like old people and old people behaving like children.

Very strange storyline. A unique sense of humor, disturbing subject matter.Would not recommend .

I bought and read this because The New Yorker said it was one of last year’s best. I often found myself going back several pages (not easy on Kindle) to see if I missed something, because I just never felt like I was understanding what was going on. A girl (who’s character development never happens) is in a boarding school; next minute she’s at a defunct motel inhabited by quirky old people who kill themselves to fight for the now long-extinct version of the world they once knew and a weird kid obsessed with the law; finally, we switch to Weird Kid’s POV as a judge in some odd version of court. I tried to like it, I really did. But it’s a boring mess with no characters that I could even name in the end (“Honey” being the only exception), no point, and a very abrupt ending which for me was the best thing this book does—it ends.

This is a bit of a tough read. The use of language is great but complex. The book lacks plot but instead creates ambiance and prose.

This book is full of amazing imagination. It reminds me of Gormenghast, not in the characters or storyline but in the impressive creation of an alternative universe. Dystopia and intricate, Williams has created a must read. Life goes on even after the world goes to hell