My crap, all in one place.
File this under "you'll either love it or hate it". Backrooms probably had an an unfair start in this season of fear films (Hokum and Obsession both being excellent), but even if we put that aside the labouring, meandering pace (more time is spent outside of the Backrooms than inside) and disappointing payoff meant I had to check my watch more times than I would have liked to.
Add to that the (albeit deliberate) lack of resolution and you're left wondering what the point is. One to skip.
I'll get straight to the point. This isn't a great book. It might have been a good blog post. What might be mistaken for accessibility is its lack of depth - numbers fly around not meaning much (unless you happen to be an economist already perhaps?). A lot of this might be due to losses in translation.
It's a shame because the message trying to cut through is a pretty simple one. It is also compelling, which is where the real danger lies - unless this argument is made robustly and decisively, it is unlikely to make it to the masses who rely on more alluring sources for their information.
On the other hand, this might just be the fodder needed to generate more messaging to the voting public to make a different choice. I hope the downstream effects are real, because as it stands this book alone won't cut it.
