The formal structure of this novel (the same story told in different form by four different characters) helps deepen the sense of mystery that Diaz is trying to cultivate, but it also lends a distance from the characters that prevents them from really jumping off the page. It also doesn’t help that two of the major characters are intentionally cast as ciphers, and there isn’t a lot of interaction between characters. I wish I could have read this without the Pulitzer Prize hype.