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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
I'm sorry. I just didn't "get" this book.
It's well written, but I just kept wishing I was already finished.
It's well written, but I just kept wishing I was already finished.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'm realizing that decayed splendor and adherence to confusing, outmoded ritual must be one of my favored aesthetics. I love the spaces in between things in this novel (and in other places as well--Clarke's Piranesi, the Dark Souls games, and its descendants). Peake lavishes attention on the empty halls and rooms, the empty hills and forests, and the empty rituals surrounding this ancient and (from what I can see) doomed dynasty.
I'll take a bit of a break--Peake is dense--and then move on to Gormenghast.
I'll take a bit of a break--Peake is dense--and then move on to Gormenghast.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I first read this book as a teenager and fell in love with it. It is full of characters who are ugly and flawed and serve more as allegorical figures than real people, so yes, they may come across as one-dimensional. Each serves a purpose within the the overall story, though, which could conceivably be viewed as a satire of the English class system, maybe? Anyway, the book is poetic and artistic, I think some called it a picture painted with words. It fired my imagination for many years. The audiobook I listened to was about 17 hrs, so I think not this exact edition, but from Blackstone audio read by Simon Vance, who does a great job with the different characters, even using a different accent for many of them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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:
Yes