I have to say, I'm not sure I understood this book as fully as I might have liked to. Despite the fact that the storytelling ability of Horace McCoy is not at all to be called into question, I do think he might have explained the story further instead of leaving it up to the reader's imagination, because if a perfectly structured story is left up to the imagination, it starts to crumble to pieces.
The setting of a marathon dance competition was effective and thoroughly creative, in my opinion. It outlined the difficulties in the character Gloria's life; when someone is put under continuous strain and physical endurance, they start to reveal facts about themselves to absolute strangers that they wouldn't have done in another situation. We soon see that Gloria is intensely suicidal, and has been considering it for some time. Maybe suicide was written about so much because it had previously been a slightly taboo subject, and as soon as the bars were lifted on it, previously unheard and suppressed views flooded out into the world of print publication. In any case, it is a main feature of the novel and calls up questions in the reader's mind about your own state of happiness, and how on earth anyone could be driven to such lengths as to kill themselves?
The reason I don't feel the book is fully explained is that I didn't feel that it built up enough to the climax of the story; there was too little time and a same-y sort of feel in between the time where we first meet each of our characters and when the major event happens (I shall not reveal what it is, because that would be telling, obviously), which left me feeling unsatisfied and incredibly confused. I like a bigger change in atmosphere when it comes to a sudden event, and, for me, there wasn't a big enough change.
Nevertheless, I liked the book intensely, in spite of its minor flaws, and finished it in a matter of hours! Next I shall be reading It's A Battlefield, by Graham Greene, so look out for further updates!
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