It's definitely one of the most beautifully written books I've read in a long time (although that's not saying much, since I haven't read very many books in a long time). The irony is that it wouldn't have been a book I would've normally picked up, but the fact that I know this lovely indie song by the same title kind of intrigued me - that, and the cover of the book was exceptionally attractive.

It reads like a memoir, and while there is a subtle overarching plot it really seems more like a cross section of the lives of richly portrayed characters. The language itself is extraordinary, eloquent, with a lyrical lilt. The most amazing thing is the way it creates a world that seems so real that long after I've put the book down, the characters still live on in my mind - the book becomes a platform for the reader's imagination, and that's the mark of truly great writing.

I really do love research section of Fisher Library at USyd =D It seems like a place created by my very own fairy godmother, with an ambience (floor to ceiling shelves stuffed full of books with sunlight streaming in from long narrow windows, the smell of yellowing paper and dust and coffee, and a silence broken only by the rustling of pages and muffled footsteps) that I never even realised I loved. It's kind of depressing that it took me a little more than a month to finally figure out the cataloguing system and find the fiction section... but now that I have, oh I can't wait for all the serenpiditous discoveries I shall make ^^