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A review by nattyyllie
The Memory Theater by Karin Tidbeck
1.0
I really wanted to love this book—the issue is this: it’s a wonderful idea, but incomplete.
Dora and Thistle/Albin have great potential and the worlds that are described here have magnificent blueprints but are mere wood and nails being hammered together; It’s nowhere near that final coat of paint. There are some nice depictions of imagery, and the characters are quite intriguing, but nothing feels complete. I have so many questions about every single character:
Where is Augusta from/how did she become such a monster? There’s no backstory. What is Ghorbi’s purpose in this? She is too much of an enigma. What is Pinax’s purpose? They are static. How does the memory theater exist? Who are these people composing it and does it live on? Nestor, the Director, Journeyman, Apprentice: there’s something there, but it’s just a sprout. The worlds are vague in the extreme as well. I wanted to know more—anything about what they were. And on and on…
The ending of the story was just flat disappointing.
Throughout the novella I thought multiple times of how a scene needed to be fleshed out. There are gaps in time that could have been utilized to demonstrate important aspects of the characters’ relationships. The only piece of this story that felt satisfying is when Augusta returned to Nils’ corpse after we understand why it is there now. The story idea itself has potential but it is simply too brief.
Dora and Thistle/Albin have great potential and the worlds that are described here have magnificent blueprints but are mere wood and nails being hammered together; It’s nowhere near that final coat of paint. There are some nice depictions of imagery, and the characters are quite intriguing, but nothing feels complete. I have so many questions about every single character:
Where is Augusta from/how did she become such a monster? There’s no backstory. What is Ghorbi’s purpose in this? She is too much of an enigma. What is Pinax’s purpose? They are static. How does the memory theater exist? Who are these people composing it and does it live on? Nestor, the Director, Journeyman, Apprentice: there’s something there, but it’s just a sprout. The worlds are vague in the extreme as well. I wanted to know more—anything about what they were. And on and on…
The ending of the story was just flat disappointing.
Throughout the novella I thought multiple times of how a scene needed to be fleshed out. There are gaps in time that could have been utilized to demonstrate important aspects of the characters’ relationships. The only piece of this story that felt satisfying is when Augusta returned to Nils’ corpse after we understand why it is there now. The story idea itself has potential but it is simply too brief.