The book of strange new things, by Michel Faber

As Under the skin is such a fantastic book I was expecting something that was equally challenging and thought provoking, and that was a big mistake – or was it. The book of strange new things is a beautiful book about loneliness and the search for belonging. The small tricks he uses, e.g. providing the main character with a computer that can send traditional emails through space while living in a very different context, create interesting tensions. In a way it is written in in a brilliant way as Peter’s, the main character, inability to reflect on his situation in any serious way ,as he projects his doubts outwards, was reflected in my own reading.

I was hungry to learn more about the “Oasans” (the aliens) while the book kept the focus on Peter and his trivial reflections. Perhaps the fact that he is given a religious role that does not really add in any way to the narrative as the Osarians longing are never explained contribute to the frustration. It is as there is a story that I missed between what was told and what I was looking for.

I closed the book with a frustrated smile, the kind you can sometimes have when you have been fooled into something in a way that you have to give credit to the one fooling you, while at the same time not feel to passionate about it as it was not as interesting as what you was hoping for. Then you get this feeling that it might actually have planted a new idea in you, one that it will take some time to understand. Then you get the feeling that you are fooled into reading more into the book that it is worth… and so on…