Glass Paperback – 24 Dec 2015

This is one of the most enjoyable novels I've read in a long time. As other reviewers have said, Gunter really is the star of the show and is possibly the most likeable character I've come across in a novel, but that does not change the fact that all the characters are fascinating and easy to identify with (except perhaps Gunter's boss!). However, what made this stand out for me was the contrast between the gentle humour that comes across on every page and the frequent moments of sharp insight that would pass you by if you weren't paying attention. It's a narrative that leaves you with a residue of unquantifiable, subjective wisdom about growing up, about people, and about the complexities of the world as it is today. It can be quite easy to miss sometimes, given how difficult it is not to get swept along with Gunther's charm, but there is a real depth of insight lurking just behind the story. I don't think this means the book is "trying" to be clever; it just is. That's why I enjoyed reading this book so much and would recommend it to anyone. It's a very competent comedy, but it's also much, much more.I really hope Christofi writes many more like it.

Glass is very funny but I felt I was never far away from a darkness underneath,like Chagall used to paint his fantastically light creations on an almost blue-black background. Gunter is a wonderful character and I adored the idea of a part Everyman, part good deity, trying to make us see more clearly. The bridge with the audience is perfectly built and I found the climbing scenes most authentic. Definitely spangling the butterflies of my vertigo, to paraphrase Beckett. I was so glad too, especially in a comedy which ends up in London, to find this was not another Amis-minor style joke book but truly international in its perspectives and philosophically profound. I was reminded of John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces, in particular the theology and geometry, but the touch is lighter. The playful nature of the writing is more akin to Bulgakov. This is a tremendous debut.

A very strange book. Gunther Glass is an ex-milkman who is fascinated by glass, and becomes a window cleaner. He's also slightly eccentric in his ways, and before long he falls in love with a clairvoyant and is also recruited by a high-flying but morally dubious window cleaner who plans to clean the windows on London's Shard tower.At first I found the book to be extremely enjoyable - I didn't laugh once whilst reading it, but I found it to be quirky and likeable. In the later stages though it seemed to have a bit of a lurch, as if the author felt or was told that a bit of drama was required, and from this point on I felt it lost a lot of the magic it had had previously. The final chapters almost felt like they belonged to a different book and didn't really work for me.Great for the first half then, but for me the second half was a big let down.

This is a great story about a humble window cleaner. Christofi uses an ordinary character for an extraordinary plot. On a simple level, it’s a touching and funny tale, narrated by the dean of Salisbury Cathedral. But this is a book of layers. The story is like an archaeological dig with treasure to be unearthed on the turn of each page. Things are never what they seem, starting with the title of the book. It is a wonderful story for readers who like surprises, subtexts and subplots. The quirky character of the Steppenwolf is reminiscent of a great philosopher. Even the art installation in the Steppenwolf’s room has an entire (and real) fascinating story of its own, waiting to be unearthed and discovered. When you finish reading this book, you have the satisfaction of having read a really good story but it can leave you worrying that you may have missed something, so you read it again.

This was a good read, there was a clear, well thought out story with colorful characters. There was a momentum throughout, but I felt it just could not push the story to a 5 star review, though, almost as if the book had been over-edited, I think. It reminded me a lot of John Irving's characters in his first 6 books but fell well short of those astonishing characters. It was also similar to something else I read recently The Sundial Salesman: `Take what you can when you can while you can - because you can't take it with you.', but again GLASS fell short of the characters in this work, too.Overall, it was a good, well-written read but any next effort would have to be edgier for me to be interested.

Steppenwolf - what a guy - take the hygiene, social skills and dietary habits of the of all of the worst flatmates you've ever lived with and then throw a German existential philosopher. Steppenwolf aside, this was a very nicely crafted novel with lots of clever twists and turns. A book you really need to read twice.

Great reading! Interesting characters. Good story. I can imagine this as an independant film.

Perfection.