Reviews - The Book of Elsewhere

The Book of Elsewhere by China Miéville, Keanu Reeves

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Thoughtfully written and melancholic, it is however somewhat of a bore, especially when you understand what a lousy guy you're really following.

The tiredness of immortality and the subsequent immorality (as when nothing can touch you, and you've done everything, what else is left?) do give our melancholic immortal a certain sense of fascination; but beneath the myrrhiad of years and an air of mystery lies a rather simple man with simple aims and understanding of the world; and the novel feels closer to the truth when it describes him as death itself, and more like a personal fantasy when portraying him as some tortured eternal hero. B is no hero - just a man who has lived for a very long time and who can kill real good. That is who he is, and that's all he is, and any intelligence and philosophy comes not from the character but the more intelligent author twisting him into a finer material.

That was the saving grace of the book for me, this lingering sense of melancholy at the prospect of all the negative aspects of living longer than everybody you know, for millennias, until humanity itself is strange to you (though B hasn't quite reached that yet - which doesn't speak well of us, with B born to a blood-hungry savage type). The book exercises some experimentation, with some chapters in first person point of view of certain characters B has met along his travels (rarely for their ultimate good, even if they might think so), while some others are in the second person speaking directly to the audience made B. It does work to bring us closer to the character while giving us multiple viewpoints into his soul, adding him complexity he doesn't always deserve.

The main narrative suffers from questionable stakes though, and fizzles out by the end. B himself seems to reach some catharsis, but I doubted its veracity. There's reason enough for him, sure, as he's gotten some liberation from what has tormented him, but it felt coming more from needing a finality than from any real logic.

Spoiler

If B is not death but change and hence doesn't need to feel bad about all the people he keeps killing, that's nice for him but hardly says much for us

The ultimate villain also enters the narrative at smoothly as Tom Cruise a train, and I never did figure out their real motivation, beyond a general “oh they just don't like you” with a light coating of metaphysical theming.

The multi-voiced cast did a good job narrating the audiobook, and the different voices worked great to give the different chapters an individual feel, but the book itself I can only offer light praise and the wish it had been shorter.

Though to be fair, if you did say you enjoyed it immensely, I would understand, because despite my grumblings it has a certain unique feeling to it that immediately struck me a something you don't meet often and that adds depth to a story that otherwise seems surprisingly lacking in it, despite the best efforts of the creators.

A valiant experiment in narrative form and the hypothetical reality of god-given immortality, the book has its upsides, but I do wish it was less infatuated with its lacklustre lead and his selfish existence, and more with what a damn pain it must be having this wanker around.