Did 'Perlmann's Silence' somehow bypass the editor? The outline of the plot is quite intriguing, and had the potential to be a fascinating moral dilemma that most readers could, at some level, connect to and empathise with. However, with every single interaction, thought, memory and nuance being so intensely over-analysed and ruminated upon by the increasingly frustrating and dislikable Perlmann (and excrucriating described in almost obsessive detail by Mercier), the plot line that held so much promise becomes rather like an enticing gift behind a reinforced glass case: you know it's there but it's frustrating difficult to access. If only Mercier had thought about his audience more. This ponderous tome is hard hard work, and at over 600 pages, in desperate need of a decent edit.