I absolutely didn't enjoy this book, it is populated by irritating and mostly pathetic, tepid characters. Futh, the protagonist, is a deeply pathetic and irritating man, he has just split up from his wife and is going on a walking holiday in Germany, in the hope that it will help him 'recover'. He is neurotic and has no ideas or thoughts of his own (his father went on a walking holiday when Futh's mother left him, so that's what Futh decides to do) and is terrifically needy. Moore does give reasons for his personality flaws - his mother left him and his dad is an alcoholic. But the upshot of having such a dislikable charachter is that I couldn't give a monkeys what happens to him, or doesn't happen to him. There is not one likeable character in this book. It is obviously a purposeful decision on the author's part, but the result is a complete disengagement on my part. The novel is also full of repetition, forced symbolism and unartful coincidences. Not for me.
Next I'm reading Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe, which has to be better!
