You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
A beautiful confusion.
I apprechiated the children friendships from this work.
I apprechiated the children friendships from this work.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really appreciate Mieville's writing, it is always intellectually stimulating, even in the cases where I do not like the book. This one had really nice moments. Especially the family dynamic that the boy recalls is an interesting recollection of moments that is altogether both fascinating and contradictory. However I have to admit that I am not one for this looseness. I thing some vague or unreliable elements can elevate storytelling and add another layer of separating the story form the storyteller. But in this one there was just too little to grasp for me. Too many events hinted on that are never put into context, or order. We experience the world of the book through the recollections of the narrators childhood but are denied any adult understanding that he may have achieved at some stage. As such the world, the story, and the characters are foggy elements that never quite take shape. As a taste preference that is just not what I look for in a story. Too much vagueness and a lack of this to hold onto, for me at least, just limit both my enjoyment and my long-term regard for a book.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"This? It's a combination gun. Look, two triggers. This is a shotgun. It spreads possibilities. And this? This rifle's a long-range single shot. You can shoot one, the other, or both. The rifle shoots right down the centre of the spread. Like an average. A range and its mean. This is an averaging gun."
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
An exercise in experiment and obscurity, meshing psychological horror with the threshold existence of life on the fringes of total social collapse in the face of technological and ecological failure. What remains: lost, confused children, some pragmatic adults, and a mysterious father of an unsound mind who makes all the keys. (You can see the allegory, natch.) What remains: an accounting. What exists? A sometimes fragmented narrative seen through the eyes of a child who writes the palimpsest of existence. Not the most familiar, comforting, or cohesive narrative, but then again, why should it be?
China Mieville is a new writer to me. Why I chose this book as the first one of his to read, I don't know. But all that aside, I liked this novella. Dark and creepy? Yes, but well told. Also it seems consistent with how a psychopath would act. I mean, in some books, the author just makes up stuff and gives no compelling reason why the murderer would murder. In this book, the author understands what a psychopath is and how he acts. Of special interest is how it impacts his family, which is what this book is mostly about.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a psychotic thriller. Kinda a new twist on it.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a psychotic thriller. Kinda a new twist on it.
I really struggled to read this, but I stuck with it as the other book of his I read was brilliant.
This one seems to constantly shift perspective and style, and I just couldn't follow what was happening and there wasn't anything rewarding enough to make up for the confusion.
This one seems to constantly shift perspective and style, and I just couldn't follow what was happening and there wasn't anything rewarding enough to make up for the confusion.