Whiteout

Hi. Thought I might as well start the ball rolling on White, and take the opportunity to warn anyone who hasn't started it yet that I'm not sure it's as good as it should be, and not to make reading it a priority if you're having to be very selective about which choices you read...

Will be (very) glad to be disagreed with, but I found it rather disappointing, in that the parts didn't add up to the whole I was hoping for. As in, I thought the language good, the Antarctica setting fascinating, and the narrative voice a neat idea. But I felt a bit more plot would be good (or, as Uncle Richard would say, "shape, Emily, shape").

I liked some touches - the information (eg the ice cream - yum!), the humour (eg the unspoken responses to Edmee's arrival) and the ideas (eg: "We ghosts never tire of such obvious facts: that before knowing each other, Peter and Edmee did not know each other at all... such innocence about the curves of time"). But the story itself didn't do as much with them as I'd hoped. And I certainly wanted more insight into Antarctica, which I find fascinating.

My main query is: what do you think happened to Clara, and why?

I will be SO interested to hear what the rest of you thought.