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The Grand Complication by Allen Kurzweil was a mixed bag. Alexander Short is a librarian working at a large public library in New York City. One day, while working at the reference desk, he is approached by a man who wants “to steal a moment of his time” and requests a book about secret compartments in old furniture, a topic Alexander is furiously interested in. The two, Short and the patron, Henry Jesson, embark on a quest to find a lost watch to complete Jesson’s collection. The journey is interesting, but neither Jesson nor Short is particularly likeable (the best character is actually the library janitor, who has an incredible knowledge of Dewey class numbers) which made me very sad. I really wanted to like Short the librarian. The story itself also ends abruptly and not completely satisfactorily, either, and while there is a possibility for the characters to return in another book, I think it highly unlikely that they will. I found the book to be a maddening mix of disdain for modern living (including some modern library practices) and appreciation for old-timey stuff.

2023-06-15 03:33