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garrowb's review against another edition
5.0
Such a vividly painted extraordinarily good world building, and intertwining stories. I want to know more of the universe.
storyorc's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Like scanning through the radio stations of a fascinating city. This world is boldly imagined and gives the impression that the author has thought through all the interconnecting strings for many hours, yet is also confident enough in the intrigue not to info-dump.
While a few plot threads, like the children, come together thrillingly, the book is more slice-of-life. Its lessons surround accepting what we cannot change and living with mistakes and missed opportunities. At the end of the book lies a list of all the places individual chapters were published previously as standalone short stories. I understand many we refactored to form a cohesive narrative but the fragmented nature still left me unable to get into any one characters' skin as much as I was hoping too. For their small page time, the development is impressive, but one can only do so much with so many interesting characters jostling for attention. The setting is the main character of this book, and it is a delight of the imagination, but personally, I would have found it a smoother read if the setting was delivered on the backs of a few main characters.
While a few plot threads, like the children, come together thrillingly, the book is more slice-of-life. Its lessons surround accepting what we cannot change and living with mistakes and missed opportunities. At the end of the book lies a list of all the places individual chapters were published previously as standalone short stories. I understand many we refactored to form a cohesive narrative but the fragmented nature still left me unable to get into any one characters' skin as much as I was hoping too. For their small page time, the development is impressive, but one can only do so much with so many interesting characters jostling for attention. The setting is the main character of this book, and it is a delight of the imagination, but personally, I would have found it a smoother read if the setting was delivered on the backs of a few main characters.
bionicturtle64's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of the most interesting, strange, beautiful books I’ve ever read.
As a reading experience, Central Station is confusing, with dense prose and complex, often unexplained, ideas. It follows multiple connected but separate characters and stories, each with their own theme and focus. Considering the book is essentially a collection of revamped short stories, this makes sense. It might be a turn off for some, but the way this book jumps between character and story helps to serve its actual goal: to put you in the world of Central Station.
As an effort in world building, Central Station is a masterclass.
The titular Central Station is a spaceport in Tel Aviv, in a future where there is no longer conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. What emerges after is a world of connections and broken barriers, where binaries are deconstructed.
Across this world, Tidhar plays with the idea of deconstructed binaries or multiple states of being. Past, present and future, differing religions and nationhood, digital and material, virtual and physical, terrestrial and extraterrestrial, man and robot, human and other - all are merged and connected in ways vastly alien to our current world.
The concepts of the Conversation - an internet accessed via a bodily node which connects all people at all times and creates a virtual second world - and virtual gameworlds - which people stay in more than real world - reinforce these ideas, highlighting the thin line between the real and virtual. Even Israel itself has merged into joint state, where nationality and religion are no longer the cause of conflict or strife.
Within this we have some truly great character concepts - a robot who is both faithless and a religious figure, a broken cyborg war veteran in love with a young, gameworld obsessed woman, a family literally trapped in their collective past, a book collector unable to access the Conversation, a data vampire looking to be accepted. Many of these stories are primed to explore concepts around faith, reality, addiction, personhood, disability (as a social concept) or belonging.
It is a truly enticing world from which thousands of stories could be told.
This book is aiming for concept, feeling and character over hard science fiction and plot, which is a shame at first. In using such poetic language, the finer elements of the stories - often such as what is happening - can be lost, and some sections were more of a slog in that respect than others. On the other hand, it all feels in serve of a theme, idea or concept. Everything here feels deliberate and planned, to exist alongside the collective jumble that is the world of Central Station.
I highly recommend this book whilst simultaneously not understanding all of it and knowing it is not for everyone
As a reading experience, Central Station is confusing, with dense prose and complex, often unexplained, ideas. It follows multiple connected but separate characters and stories, each with their own theme and focus. Considering the book is essentially a collection of revamped short stories, this makes sense. It might be a turn off for some, but the way this book jumps between character and story helps to serve its actual goal: to put you in the world of Central Station.
As an effort in world building, Central Station is a masterclass.
The titular Central Station is a spaceport in Tel Aviv, in a future where there is no longer conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. What emerges after is a world of connections and broken barriers, where binaries are deconstructed.
Across this world, Tidhar plays with the idea of deconstructed binaries or multiple states of being. Past, present and future, differing religions and nationhood, digital and material, virtual and physical, terrestrial and extraterrestrial, man and robot, human and other - all are merged and connected in ways vastly alien to our current world.
The concepts of the Conversation - an internet accessed via a bodily node which connects all people at all times and creates a virtual second world - and virtual gameworlds - which people stay in more than real world - reinforce these ideas, highlighting the thin line between the real and virtual. Even Israel itself has merged into joint state, where nationality and religion are no longer the cause of conflict or strife.
Within this we have some truly great character concepts - a robot who is both faithless and a religious figure, a broken cyborg war veteran in love with a young, gameworld obsessed woman, a family literally trapped in their collective past, a book collector unable to access the Conversation, a data vampire looking to be accepted. Many of these stories are primed to explore concepts around faith, reality, addiction, personhood, disability (as a social concept) or belonging.
It is a truly enticing world from which thousands of stories could be told.
This book is aiming for concept, feeling and character over hard science fiction and plot, which is a shame at first. In using such poetic language, the finer elements of the stories - often such as what is happening - can be lost, and some sections were more of a slog in that respect than others. On the other hand, it all feels in serve of a theme, idea or concept. Everything here feels deliberate and planned, to exist alongside the collective jumble that is the world of Central Station.
I highly recommend this book whilst simultaneously not understanding all of it and knowing it is not for everyone
kbhenrickson's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
lanster's review against another edition
5.0
Loved it, very interesting episodic novel about post-human problems, life and death, culture. No real plot but who cares.
essinink's review against another edition
4.0
Central Station is not a novel. I start with this, because it's important to how I had to understand the work. If you go into this book reading it as a novel, you will be frustrated. Seemingly significant details emerge, are studied, and then are dropped before they follow through to a satisfying conclusion.
Central Station is not a short story collection, though it started out that way. Most of the 'chapters' were originally published as separate works, forming the Central Station Story Cycle, but the versions published were--according to the copyright page--'substantively different' versions than those which appear in this volume.
And so what the reader experiences is more than a collection, less than a novel, and yet still somehow moving.
And so they don't. The story should feel unfinished--and it's true that I'm left wondering about many things--but that's okay. What's presented here is a patchwork of human (and I suppose, 'post-human') experience. From Boris Chong, to Kranki and Ismail, to Carmel, to the Robotniks--and oh my heart breaks for the Robotniks, there's a great deal here that I like.
There's also some commentary that I didn't connect with. Faith and religion of all creeds are ever-present in the background (We see Jews, Catholics, Buddhists, and others milling about this future Tel Aviv and Central Station), but the one that the reader hears most of is the Church of Robot, with the psychotropic drug called 'faith' or 'Crucifixion,' coupled with a mish-mash of terms from religions around the world coupled to new definitions. In another segment, add in Eliezar the god-maker, and the nature of the Others (and by extension the children) ...It's a great example of where a book and I have to nod and part ways.
It's unsurprising that Lavie Tidhar has drawn comparisons to Philip K. Dick, I definitely got that vibe from his style. But unlike PKD, I'm missing that final a-ha! moment where the crazy becomes clarity.
Ultimately, I enjoyed it. There's just enough tilt to the world to keep me intrigued. As a series of snapshots, loosely connected into a narrative of human experience, 4 stars without question. As any kind of novel in the traditional sense, 3.
Central Station is not a short story collection, though it started out that way. Most of the 'chapters' were originally published as separate works, forming the Central Station Story Cycle, but the versions published were--according to the copyright page--'substantively different' versions than those which appear in this volume.
And so what the reader experiences is more than a collection, less than a novel, and yet still somehow moving.
"There comes a time in a man's life when he realizes that stories are lies. Things do not end neatly."
-Lavie Tidhar, Central Station
And so they don't. The story should feel unfinished--and it's true that I'm left wondering about many things--but that's okay. What's presented here is a patchwork of human (and I suppose, 'post-human') experience. From Boris Chong, to Kranki and Ismail, to Carmel, to the Robotniks--and oh my heart breaks for the Robotniks, there's a great deal here that I like.
There's also some commentary that I didn't connect with. Faith and religion of all creeds are ever-present in the background (We see Jews, Catholics, Buddhists, and others milling about this future Tel Aviv and Central Station), but the one that the reader hears most of is the Church of Robot, with the psychotropic drug called 'faith' or 'Crucifixion,' coupled with a mish-mash of terms from religions around the world coupled to new definitions. In another segment, add in Eliezar the god-maker, and the nature of the Others (and by extension the children) ...It's a great example of where a book and I have to nod and part ways.
It's unsurprising that Lavie Tidhar has drawn comparisons to Philip K. Dick, I definitely got that vibe from his style. But unlike PKD, I'm missing that final a-ha! moment where the crazy becomes clarity.
Ultimately, I enjoyed it. There's just enough tilt to the world to keep me intrigued. As a series of snapshots, loosely connected into a narrative of human experience, 4 stars without question. As any kind of novel in the traditional sense, 3.
shawcrit's review against another edition
3.0
I found it really difficult to get into this one. As others have noted, this is more a set of linked stories than a novel. I found myself connecting to one or two characters and narratives, while others just didn't interest me, and I wasn't really provided enough time or backstory to become engaged. That said, there are a lot of interesting things going on here, so I might return to this one and see if I like it more the second time.
Because of the diversity of the stories, Tidhar manages to engage with a variety of issues common to science fiction, including ethnic conflict and prejudice, bioethics (cyborgs, genetic modification), and the impacts of technology ("the Conversation" = most people are constantly plugged into a collective digital 'radio' that allows them to communicate with others and listen in to others' 'feeds' while they go about their day in the material world).
I found the reworking of the strigoi particularly fascinating as a metaphor; if you are into vampire stories, this book has a really interesting and unique take.
The writing, too, is often beautiful, and I think this book succeeds best at creating an atmosphere: it is very easy to imagine the richness and vibrancy of Central Station, and in that regard it is a great success.
Because of the diversity of the stories, Tidhar manages to engage with a variety of issues common to science fiction, including ethnic conflict and prejudice, bioethics (cyborgs, genetic modification), and the impacts of technology ("the Conversation" = most people are constantly plugged into a collective digital 'radio' that allows them to communicate with others and listen in to others' 'feeds' while they go about their day in the material world).
I found the reworking of the strigoi particularly fascinating as a metaphor; if you are into vampire stories, this book has a really interesting and unique take.
The writing, too, is often beautiful, and I think this book succeeds best at creating an atmosphere: it is very easy to imagine the richness and vibrancy of Central Station, and in that regard it is a great success.
ceridwenanne's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
david_agranoff's review against another edition
3.0
Israeli Sci-fi. Cloud Atlas ish but not as good. full review coming