The Red House

This book is such a mess. I got it hoping for another great read from Mark Haddon since I enjoyed his ‘The curious incident' , but got absolutely nothing.

I couldn't enjoy or get with any of the characters, everyone seemed bland and the jumping from one's character mind to another was rly difficult. Also both thoughts and speech was italicised, so it was confusing when someone was talking or thinking.

I tried reading it but could not even finish a quarter of the book :/

I wish I could give this more stars, but it was pretty blah. I kept waiting for something amazing to happen, but it was basically just the normal vacation events of one strange family. I liked the setting and the writing style kept me on my toes somewhat, especially at the beginning.

I really wanted to like this novel, and yet. . . .
I'll give Haddon a bit of slack on account of me listening to it instead of reading it. I figure that a physical book might have had some visual cues to guide the reader across huge leaps in perspective.
So, in short, my issues:
Why does Haddon eschew the complete sentence? Why are there entire sections of short phrases, presented in lists, impressionist-like? What do they contribute to the novel? I understand the plot is mostly interior work, but, well. . . yawn.
When the novel jumps from one characters p.o.v. to the next, I would like to know why. Otherwise, this is just a jumble of interior impressions from a dysfunctional family on holiday. Yawn.
I think that in order to write a novel with a cast of thoroughly unlikable characters (with occasional exceptions), you need to make the reader give a wee shit about them at the outset. Unfortunately, all of the adults and some of the kids in this extended family are odious and dull and, with the exception of Louisa, in no great hurry to change their stripes. I don't care about any of them and they need to all go away.