“Strangers” was one of those books that has been left behind by another traveler on the shelf of an Airbnb apartment. Me, always being curious about what kind of reads others bring along on their vacations, decided to take it along for a couple of days at the beach.

As it says in the reviews by fellow authors on the cover of the book, there is a certain similarity with the style of writing of Paul Auster, whose works I have previously really enjoyed. There are also some hints of a “Haruki Murakami-esque” mood and a certain mix of reality vs. a different parallel world that can also be encountered when reading Yukio Mishima’s “Life for Sale”.

The story had a steady pace to it, so that it kept you hooked to keep on reading. The characters were interesting enough to make you want to know how they developed further. What finally made me stick with a 3/5 ⭐ rating, was that some descriptions just felt too repetitive and I didn’t take any parts along with me that I would have wanted to highlight.

All in all, this was some easy and quick reading in a Japanese kind of style. A bit of weirdness, a bit of depth (if/when you analyse the story a bit more) and just the right type of light kind of book to pick up when you’re on vacation.

★★★☆☆ (3/5)

_{Edition: ISBN 978-0-571-224371
Faber and Faber, 2006 (first published in 1987)}