Revisiting 'Gods without Men' by Hari Kunzru (Book 13)
I had only recently read this book in January (2013 Book 13), though after I managed to get it selected for one of my reading groups I decided to revisit it via its unabridged audio edition. I am not counting it towards my annual challenge.
Recorded Books used six narrators for the audio edition: Trevor White, Lorelei King, Kerry Shale, Rupert Degas, Kate Harper, and Andrew Wincott. I felt that they did an excellent job and having multiple voices suited the time shifts as alternative chapters moved between the past and the present day.
A second encounter with the novel led me to appreciate it more and I changed my original Goodreads rating from 4 to 5-stars. I found the UFO, Native American, philosophical and mystical elements came more to the fore this time round, which likely was due to my being aware of how the disappearance of Raj plays out.
What surprised me was that the novel was not well received by the reading group with only myself and one other, a man comfortable with concepts such as time slippage, gave it a thumbs up. The majority of the group either struggled or didn't complete it . It reminded me of the response I had from the same group with Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad, which again was a novel that hopped about in time sans the UFOs and religious aspects.
Still despite this, the novel provoked some interesting discussion about its themes and why members didn't feel it worked for them contrasted with why I was waxing lyrical , which is always a good thing with a reading group.