Narcopolis - smoked

Finished Narcopolis - I will comment on in the book section of the blog.

75% of the way through Umbrella. It's a pity I find Will Self so pretentious and overly wordy (note italics).
Underlying story/stories are different, interesting and quite emotional. Hard read, as it spans a century and the narrative leaps at will from Zack Busner, to his patient Audrey, to the supporting cast and between different periods of time. I really am having to concentrate hard. In the end I fear a good subject may be ruined by the writer's ego. And the point of the italics? My guess is as this is a stream-of-consciousness piece of writing, anything that pops into Self's head at the time!. Some of it is logical, some fantastical, some nonsensical. My guess is the book will delight critics much the same way as Hirst delighted and surprised the art world with his formaldehyde shark. It's different, certainly, but is it literature as we know it, Captain Kirk?