When I started reading the first few pages, I had no idea what was going on. As I thought about it, I realize that may be the point; Ruth and Perry may not have been able to make sense of their earlier memories and hallucinations. I feel like my confusion was a reflection of theirs and was intentional.
As I continued reading, I started to at least understand the plot and the characters. I really like a lot of the random, unique parts of the book that weren’t necessary part of the story, like the small illegible writing, the representation of darkness, and the things filling the gutters. It was very captivating.
I agree with the person who said it was the most engrossing novel so far, I really enjoyed it. It kept me interested and the visual aspect was very appealing.
The consensus with Swallow Me Whole is that it’s engrossing, even as we don’t know what to make of it. I’ll be curious in class to begin to figure out how we do begin making sense of it. What are some of the larger themes of the text? In other words, to what larger theme do these random, unsettling, and incomprehensible parts of the book contribute?