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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
metaphorosis's review against another edition
3.0
reviews.metaphorosis.com
2.5 stars
As punishment, Physiognomist First Class Cley is sent by the Master to investigate a minor matter. He sets out to do so with his usual brutal, privileged, directness, only to end up on a course toward disaster.
The Physiognomist struck me as a self-consciously quirky story – as with Jeff Vandermeer, Physiognomist author Jeffrey Ford trying too hard to be outlandish and strange. This feels a story asking - begging, even - to be placed with Kafka. It would have succeeded better if it had made more clear what it was trying to achieve.
Reading The Physiognomist, left me feeling constantly as if I were missing some several layers of hidden meaning. Unfortunately, the subtletly confounded me - or simply wasn't there. Rhere are several obvious aspects of satire, such as focus on looks as a surrogate for capability, However, Ford spends quite a lot of time hinting at other layers relating to religion (the Master's name is Drachton Below) and psychology (hints at representations of ego and id) without ever committing to them. Several promising avenues are thrown out and then simply let lie.
Quite a bit of the story simply doesn't make much sense within its own universe, and the problem is exacerbated by the narrator's addiction to the drug 'sheer beauty' and its pyschedelic effects. The result feels more like a pastiche of surreal dream sequences than a purposeful narrative. It's original and interesting, but it's not good. It's a disappointment; the concept holds a lot of promise that Ford never follows up on, and the ending is flat and anti-climactic.
NB: Received free copy from Net Galley.
marlyholsman's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Such an atrocious man, I almost put it down. His redemption arc made me tear up near the end though…
This was wonderful. Very quick, quite a page turner. The world is spectacular in so many ways and the hatable characters are balanced so well with the good people throughout that seem to always give a second chance. Found it quite heartwarming for something that started off so foul.
This was wonderful. Very quick, quite a page turner. The world is spectacular in so many ways and the hatable characters are balanced so well with the good people throughout that seem to always give a second chance. Found it quite heartwarming for something that started off so foul.
m_fozz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
malapatasg's review against another edition
2.0
Decepcionante. Así ha sido mi experiencia con la Fisiognomía de Ford. El autor teje un mundo muy interesante, con unas imágenes bastante potentes, pero falla estrepitosamente a la hora de hilvanar una historia que nos guíe a través del mismo.
La narración avanza a saltos, con demasiadas situaciones que ocurren sin más justificación que el ser necesarias para que la historia avance. Esto se refleja también en la evolución del protagonista, entre forzada y previsible, en especial en su parte central.
Una lástima, porque la creación del mundo era muy interesante y podía haber dado mucho más de sí.
La narración avanza a saltos, con demasiadas situaciones que ocurren sin más justificación que el ser necesarias para que la historia avance. Esto se refleja también en la evolución del protagonista, entre forzada y previsible, en especial en su parte central.
Una lástima, porque la creación del mundo era muy interesante y podía haber dado mucho más de sí.
sisteray's review against another edition
4.0
CW Coercive Sex, Drug Addiction
On the surface this is a bizarre redemption story, set in a dark fantasy steampunk world. Our main character is a despicable stooge for a narcissistic psychopathic tyrant. The MC exercises his power with extreme overconfidence, and uses the evidence of his power as validation of his worth.
Ford isn’t afraid to present this story expecting the reader to take a ride with some pretty unlikable characters. But, he was able to pull it off for me through some remarkable acerbic humor, and remarkable horrors.
The fantasy world has a Gene Wolfe or Jack Vance adjacent quality, where the unreality is just a vehicle for limitless possibilities rather than classic high fantasy world building. The mood of the book felt for me far more along the lines of existential postmodernism (ala Kōbō Abe).
While it is a journey through the growth of a wretched character, for me the story felt more about systemic oppression and how people shape themselves to be cruel to survive in an environment that commodifies cruelty. As the system reveals itself, I became far more sympathetic to the people trapped in it trying to get by.
I really enjoyed it.
On the surface this is a bizarre redemption story, set in a dark fantasy steampunk world. Our main character is a despicable stooge for a narcissistic psychopathic tyrant. The MC exercises his power with extreme overconfidence, and uses the evidence of his power as validation of his worth.
Ford isn’t afraid to present this story expecting the reader to take a ride with some pretty unlikable characters. But, he was able to pull it off for me through some remarkable acerbic humor, and remarkable horrors.
The fantasy world has a Gene Wolfe or Jack Vance adjacent quality, where the unreality is just a vehicle for limitless possibilities rather than classic high fantasy world building. The mood of the book felt for me far more along the lines of existential postmodernism (ala Kōbō Abe).
While it is a journey through the growth of a wretched character, for me the story felt more about systemic oppression and how people shape themselves to be cruel to survive in an environment that commodifies cruelty. As the system reveals itself, I became far more sympathetic to the people trapped in it trying to get by.
I really enjoyed it.
not_bender's review against another edition
4.0
This book follows a generally unlikable protagonist, Cley, as he heads to a remote city to investigate the evidence, and potential theft, of an item which the Master wants to use to extend his reign over all the people in the Well-Built City and beyond. Some snags occur, things go south, and Cley is on the run, captured, eventually changed, and less unlikable (though still not a saint). Then some more things happen and the book ends!
There are plentiful odd, weird, and otherwise strange passages/descriptions/events in the book, all of which did a good job in keeping my interest and making me want more. I enjoyed the story and everything pretty well, my biggest gripe is that it felt like the ending was quite rushed (to be fair, in the author's intro to the digital version of the trilogy I'm reading, he said he finished this book in a month's time after submitting the first few chapters, so that's not particularly surprising). Looking forward to the second book, which I'll be starting right about...now.
There are plentiful odd, weird, and otherwise strange passages/descriptions/events in the book, all of which did a good job in keeping my interest and making me want more. I enjoyed the story and everything pretty well, my biggest gripe is that it felt like the ending was quite rushed (to be fair, in the author's intro to the digital version of the trilogy I'm reading, he said he finished this book in a month's time after submitting the first few chapters, so that's not particularly surprising). Looking forward to the second book, which I'll be starting right about...now.
chaos_is_reading's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
anredman's review against another edition
3.0
Only vaguely, generally spoilery.
Very tough one to review. Despite being a short novel, I read it over more than a week. I think the over-all rating is more like a 2.5 for me, but I rounded up cuz I'm biased - I enjoy the author immensely and I adore his short fiction.
There's a lot not to enjoy about the book. The main character is wholly unlikeable. Extremely so. Despite whimsy and exaggeration woven into The Physiognomy, well, it doesn't off-set or explain why the main character has to be such an extreme shit at the start of the book. The intrusion and violence against women is a turn off.
Most of the side characters are oafs. The MC, Cley, regards everyone as stupid and there's hardly a character that's actually not an oaf. As the story progresses in three very distinct parts, I was bummed out that most of the characters and scenes were destroyed/killed when they passed by. What a waste of paper thin characters that could of been expanded upon later instead of replaced by new paper thin characters to be killed later.
In the middle of the book Cley begins to see the err of his ways, but it never really redeems how he fucking awful he used to be. The end of the book feels rushed in comparison to the rest of it. However, the conclusion of the Well-Built City was satisfying. The following pages depicting fleeing the ruins and establishing a new city were tacked on and horribly rushed. I get that there are two more books about the Well-Built City. Not sure if I want to read those.
Wish I'd found a way to appreciate the novel more. There are some very clever ideas in the book, like the physiognomy and the memory palace that the Well-Built City represents. Very, very clever. But the shabby characters are such a put off.
Will always recommend this author and his short fiction, however. A Natural History of Hell is top notch reading.
Very tough one to review. Despite being a short novel, I read it over more than a week. I think the over-all rating is more like a 2.5 for me, but I rounded up cuz I'm biased - I enjoy the author immensely and I adore his short fiction.
There's a lot not to enjoy about the book. The main character is wholly unlikeable. Extremely so. Despite whimsy and exaggeration woven into The Physiognomy, well, it doesn't off-set or explain why the main character has to be such an extreme shit at the start of the book. The intrusion and violence against women is a turn off.
Most of the side characters are oafs. The MC, Cley, regards everyone as stupid and there's hardly a character that's actually not an oaf. As the story progresses in three very distinct parts, I was bummed out that most of the characters and scenes were destroyed/killed when they passed by. What a waste of paper thin characters that could of been expanded upon later instead of replaced by new paper thin characters to be killed later.
In the middle of the book Cley begins to see the err of his ways, but it never really redeems how he fucking awful he used to be. The end of the book feels rushed in comparison to the rest of it. However, the conclusion of the Well-Built City was satisfying. The following pages depicting fleeing the ruins and establishing a new city were tacked on and horribly rushed. I get that there are two more books about the Well-Built City. Not sure if I want to read those.
Wish I'd found a way to appreciate the novel more. There are some very clever ideas in the book, like the physiognomy and the memory palace that the Well-Built City represents. Very, very clever. But the shabby characters are such a put off.
Will always recommend this author and his short fiction, however. A Natural History of Hell is top notch reading.
mxmlln's review against another edition
4.0
Another recommendation, but this one I really liked. It might not have been so much recommended as a date of mine was reading it and the title really appealed to me. Luckily, the prose was fun and diegesis compelling. Only con was that all the elements of the book seemed similar to others I had run into before, though not directly stolen like some children books do. For example, the main Physiognomist was clearly a Dickens' villain. The book's cover compares it to The Penal Colony and 1984.
Will definitely read the rest of the trilogy.
Will definitely read the rest of the trilogy.