Strange. Succinct. Brutal. Raw. There are six characters to whom we're introduced. None would you want for a friend, nor would they want you, except perhaps in the most superficial way. There is a balance of internal morass and dialectic against external duties and social mores that drives both tale and characters to the climax. It feels inevitable (in fact in a few places characters note the sureness they will soon die) but nothing here is a given or a surety. The writing is stunningly controlled, although occasionally reliant on a dated racism of both time and place that may make the concise novel a slog or an impossibility for some readers.