Scan barcode
A review by bubblesuns
The City & The City by China Miéville
4.0
Re-read for a book club. Vastly different experience on a second reading; coming into the world with an understanding of its rules totally re-contextualises the setting. Like the Gearys, my first entry into the world of Beszel and Ul Qoma was overwhelming and confusing. The intricacies were lost on me and I couldn't quite grasp what I was meant to be seeing and why I shouldn't see the other. On my return to the two Cities, I felt like a local. Terms like cross-hatched and disensi were in my vocabulary already, and the political factions and rivalries were grating in the way only local politics can be.
My interpretation of the boundaries between the two cities also changed. While previously there was an air of mysticism around them, now only a physical understanding that two cities existed in one place.
A credit to Miéville and the world he has created. I'm a big fan of when a City itself is a character, and the two Cities in The City and the City are right up there with the best of them.
My interpretation of the boundaries between the two cities also changed. While previously there was an air of mysticism around them, now only a physical understanding that two cities existed in one place.
A credit to Miéville and the world he has created. I'm a big fan of when a City itself is a character, and the two Cities in The City and the City are right up there with the best of them.