Thoughts at the half way point of The Counterfeiters

Having set up the small cast of characters Gide starts to interweave their stories shaking the tree and dropping seeds throughout that could grow into fairly major story lines or alternatively could get shirked off. part of the experience of reading this is not knowing quite how the story is going to develop.

The other feature of the writing that you start to enjoy is the way that Gide treats the reader as someone that is able to follow the story without the need for a great deal of hand holding. So the voice of the narrator occasionally turns towards the audience and he explains that certain details are really not worth going into or lists the main features of a character to minimise the break in the story.

Love is at the heart of the story but so is the question of deception. The main characters are playing their cards close to their chests and as the reader gets more of an insight into what is happening things are being set up where the masks are going to be forced to slip.

At that moment Gide's talent as a writer should shine through because otherwise the good work done so far will have failed to get the climax it deserves.

More soon...