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townblog's review against another edition
5.0
I found this book by chance, judged it based on its cover (and title), and happily proclaim myself its ideal reader. This is a great mash-up of 19th century adventure novels - the French inspector and the consulting detective on a race around the world, in a world that combines opulent passenger trains, machine gun partisans, airships, sea monsters, and a bio-dome circus. It's all a dreamscape of a classics reader in a cigar factory, or an eReader virus that recombines works in the public domain, or a pastiche of Doyle, Poe, Dumas, Verne, and Lovecraft. Its Moby Dick as understood by P.T. Barnum, with iPads and profane sex acts and one really great brick joke. It's madness. I loved it.
icarustiquement's review against another edition
Un livre que j’avais hâte de lire et qui m’a beaucoup déçu, le seul personnage noir est majordome et se fait traiter de « nègre », l’auteur ne tient pas 20 page sans décrire de poitrine ou de seins, on nous y apprend qu’une haïtienne possède un « bagage intellectuel et une conscience politique très largement supérieure aux siens » car elle a acquis l’amour de la lecture (de classique européen), bref un livre que je n’ai aucune envie de continuer.
amelie5m's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
kateofmind's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
ludwig44's review against another edition
2.0
Μέτριο. Καλή προσπάθεια αλλά από κάποιο σημείο γίνεται κουραστικό...Το "Εκεί που ζουν οι τίγρεις" είμαι μακράν καλύτερο.
xtoyenx's review against another edition
3.0
Pořád nevím, co si o tom myslet. Neskutečná pakárna s nepopiratelnými záchvěvy geniality...
portiabturner's review against another edition
2.0
This was a mess of a book. I was so intrigued by it when it was described to me at a rep night and I needed to read a book in translation for my reading challenge with my roommates so I thought this was going to be perfect.
There are too many plots in this book. Yes, most of them end up tying together in the end but it took too long to get there. I didn't care about most of the plots because they didn't feel important or necessary. And then when they did start to tie together, I was completely lost. What I could tell was supposed to make me say "Oh wow, I can't believe it" left me scratching my head. Too much was attempted and not enough was successful.
There are too many plots in this book. Yes, most of them end up tying together in the end but it took too long to get there. I didn't care about most of the plots because they didn't feel important or necessary. And then when they did start to tie together, I was completely lost. What I could tell was supposed to make me say "Oh wow, I can't believe it" left me scratching my head. Too much was attempted and not enough was successful.
cwgrieves's review
2.0
For me, this book didn't reach the standards that I expect from Open Letter. I really struggled to get all of the way through it. The writing and the main plot were fairly mediocre, but the concept was great. I got to the end thinking that there was a lot more that could have been done with the idea behind the story.
The plot of the Canterel/Holmes story-line had far too many coincidences in it for me. It also wasn't clear when it was set (or if it was set in a completely different timeline). There were points where the characters seemed to be in the late 19th Century and points where they seemed to be in the early 21st Century. Those inconsistencies really pulled me out of the narrative. I saw the twist coming a mile off and the powers that one character acquired towards the end were neither explained, nor relevant.
My biggest two issues with this book though were the completely unnecessary racial slurs and the incidents of sexual violence. I think that racism and sexual assault are important topics and fiction writers shouldn't shy away from addressing them. In my opinion though, the author did a terrible job of handling both issues.
The plot of the Canterel/Holmes story-line had far too many coincidences in it for me. It also wasn't clear when it was set (or if it was set in a completely different timeline). There were points where the characters seemed to be in the late 19th Century and points where they seemed to be in the early 21st Century. Those inconsistencies really pulled me out of the narrative. I saw the twist coming a mile off and the powers that one character acquired towards the end were neither explained, nor relevant.
My biggest two issues with this book though were the completely unnecessary racial slurs and the incidents of sexual violence. I think that racism and sexual assault are important topics and fiction writers shouldn't shy away from addressing them. In my opinion though, the author did a terrible job of handling both issues.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs and Sexual violence
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