I think I have finally checked out of this experiment. On the plus side, this is the volume where multiple characters and storylines are really starting to interconnect -- even if we don't have a whole feeling for the story at large quite yet. As usual, I liked the sections belonging to Xander and her parents best. I loved the word art, especially the cats. I maintain a fondness for Shnork (I may be spelling this incorrectly as I can't read my handwriting and no longer have the book on hand.) But Jingjing's sections continue to give me a headache, and my wariness toward Luther grew into outright dislike in this volume.

I do like some of the things Danielewski is doing here, but it's just too much work. I already don't like series because I don't like committing to so many particular books when there are so many books in the world to read. Add to that the radically different styles in which each narrator is written, and the current thickness of the mystery -- not knowing what details are important -- starting each section requires scrambling to find one's footing again. Wait -- what is the current status of Xander's flicking stones game? Wait -- what is the current status of Cas in hiding? Wait -- what of Jingjing's section is language, is slang, is druggy nonsense, is ANYTHING?! I'm spending too much time irritated and not enough time in a good reading grove. And the payoff is a billion pages away.

I'm just not that into it. ( )

Plot lines are starting to ramp up and we're only at the tip of this ice berg! I am really enjoying the tiny spoilers and hints of how all these disparate people, places, and circumstances are connected. This has a smidge of fantastical / science fiction going on that intrigues me very much. So glad I have #4 at home already! ( )

Subtitled Honeysuckle & Pain, Mark Z. Danielewski’s third installment crosses the threshold of experimental fiction into the formulaic.

Review available at the New York Journal of Books:

http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/familiar-volume-3 ( )

I understand Danielewski is trying to echo a TV series, but does he understand I can binge watch an entire thirteen episode season in the same amount of time it takes me to read one volume of The Familiar? With the time commitment one of these books takes, I would like a bit more out of them: three volumes into the projected twenty-seven book series and I can just now begin to discern a hint of plot and multidimensionality in the characters. I can understand letting things develop slowly, but continents move faster than this.

Despite my frustration with the pace of the storytelling, I must say I think Honeysuckle & Pain is a better book than the previous volumes. The characters, especially Xanther, are gaining depth and the hints that are being dropped about how they are interconnected intrigue me. This volume also includes some truly striking images, of which my favorites are a forest with trees made entirely of pound signs and a lioness rendered from lines of text.

I still find the font changes, overuse of parentheses and brackets, and paper-wasting page layout annoying. ( )

Er is veel dat ingevuld wordt in het derde deel, de personages krijgen meer achtergrond, ze schuiven dichter naar elkaar toe. Kan Danielewski dit volhouden? (Kan ik dit volhouden?) Nog 24 delen? Ik twijfel ... De verhaallijn van Xanther, Anwar en Astair wordt, zoals in de meeste Netflix en HBO-series, omwikkeld door waanzin, (wat kleffe) highschoolhorror, ((tegen het cliché aanschikkende) taalkundige (en (voor)beeldige(beeldende))) slapstick en (californication(achtige)) streetsmart. En waar ik na deel 1 nog (misschien ietwat (naïef)) geloofde dat Danielewski met het totaalproject van 'The Familiar' een opvolger voor Finnegans Wake in gedachten had, stel ik nu vast dat zijn ambitie (misschien(!) (heel wat)) 'banaler' is: een (heel (erg (bijzonder) dik)) boek schrijven (daarin gul geholpen door (de soms haast blanke (of zwartgeblakerde)) bladspiegel en (speelse (of (bloed(rode)) illustraties). Maar weet hij zelf wel waarnaartoe? (Vast wel ... (toch?))
Deel 4 verschijnt pas in februari 2017. (Wat meteen wil zeggen dat (nu reeds) het (door mij) verhoopte schema van 2 boeken per jaar wordt losgelaten ...) ( )