The Love Hexagon [Paperback]

1. This book is unoriginal because it focuses on 6 twentysomething friends who live and work in London. (Seems to be a popular theme these days).
2. The story line is beyond predictable. After the first couple of chapters any capable reader can guess who will end up with whom.
3. Finally this book is unbelievable. All six characters have the ability to discover exactly what they are feeling, why they are acting the way they are, what they should do and what the other person is thinking. There is no fumbling, and no guessing when it comes to figuring the situation out.

If you are going to read anything by Sutcliffe, go for "Are you Experienced" and leave "Love Hexagon" on the shelf.

After what seems like a decade of "Friends" and far too many films starring Ethan Hawke-types as self-loathing urban romantics, the plot of this book is patently unremarkable. Still, Sutcliffe is a superior talent; his dialog moves crisply with superb cadence and aural vigor. As with his other works, Sutcliffe demonstrates why he is an international talent who deserves the acclaim he's received: he understands the anxieties of our generation and presents them in a manner void of the didactic and the bombastic. His characters speak with the requisite sophisticate irony, but with a sense of candor -which if not done well would come across as whiny earnestness.

This is an entertaining read, though ultimately unsatisfying when compared to his other works. If you have yet to read any Sutcliffe novels, start with this one and move on to the others. Whatever its shortcomings, "The Love Hexagon" has not diminished my anticipation for Sutcliffe's next book.