SOURCE: A review of Thomas the Obscure, in Review of Contemporary Fiction, Vol. 9, No. 2, Summer, 1989, pp. 241-2.

In the following review, Malin comments on the elusive text and obscurities in Thomas the Obscure.

It is impossible to review briefly this subtle, haunting novel [Thomas the Obscure]—or meditation—because we must deal with deliberate evasions, absences, obscurities. The text, in effect, drowns us; it apparently refuses to permit breathing, rational discourse. Although it is divided into twelve short sections, we are unsure about the chronology. Should the sections be read consecutively? Does time advance? Are there two characters (Anne and Thomas or “un-Anne” or “un-Thomas”) or one character imagining other selves? These questions perplex us because of the “borderline” states—hallucination, dream, life itself—which slowly advance and retreat the movement of consciousness.

As we read the text we discover that almost every sentence is tentative. We are...