The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall – Reviewed by Guy Portman
Eric Sanderson is suffering from a form of amnesia called fugue, at least according to his psychologist. Eric is aware that his girlfriend Cleo died whilst they were on holiday on the Greek island of Naxos, but he has no memory of what occurred. Eric is determined to find out who he is and what happened to Cleo. An envelope marked ‘open me’ leads to our protagonist going on an adventure that entails a conceptual shark, a mad scientist and a girl.
This analytical and abstract book’s motif is mental health. Its contents include drawings and computer code. There are numerous tributes to Jaws.
Whilst this reader was intrigued by the merging of the real with the imaginary, he found The Raw Shark Texts to be pretentious and onerous. Other criticisms were the inadequate finale, cheesy humour and the nauseating dialogue, particularly between Eric and his love interests
