Umbrella now furled up in the corner...

I expected from remarks others had made and a quick glance that this novel was going to prove a challenge.

Indeed, I was only able to complete Umbrella by following the advise of my housemate who suggested that rather than try to make sense of its structure (or lack thereof) that I just allow the words to wash over me . It worked quite well for the stream-of-consciousness format.

I am still formulating my thoughts and will add them as comment to the novel's entry when I've had a little more time.

However, quite early on I came across John Crace's Digested read: Umbrella by Will Self: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/aug/19/umbrella-will-self-digested

I didn't read it until I'd finished as this kind of satire works best if you know the novel being sent up. I found it quite amusing summing up the novel's 400 pages in 400 words.