This is my review of Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk.

The backcover blurb for this book intrigued me but from the second page I felt frustration. I realise that the man who claims to be Columbus is likely to be mentally ill, but the paragraph where he muses about the courage needed to sail when you don't know the sea (when I would have thought the reverse was true) left me confused, even after reading it a couple of times. Then there are the odd, jarring similes – the interruption of a busy doctor is described as like the icing on an annoyance cake – this is distracting because it is the opposite of what it should be, and you are not sure whether this is the author's intention. If he is trying to create an original simile, it doesn't work.

I also agree with what has already been described as the unconvincing mental institution with the dreamy, sensitive Consuela who is not at all like an overworked, down-to-earth nurse – in fact most likely to be male, when dealing with disturbed male patients. Plus some of the medication used doesn't sound right.

As I read on, the style seemed a bit mawkish with dull dialogues.

I am afraid that I did not take to "Waiting for Columbus" at all. I felt that I was being conned into spending time on a book with over-hyped literary merit together with a plot and set of characters who prove too disappointing to compensate for this.

⭐⭐ 2 Stars