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A review by mrninjaviking
Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente
4.0
First, a brief description found on Amazon.Com and the back cover:
This is the second book of Valente’s that I have read. I have known about her books for quite a while. We are talking years. The title and plot descriptions have intrigued me for just as long. I had read many reviews of her work. And through all this, I came to the conclusion that her writing scared me. In a good way, though. Especially after reading “Yume No Hon”, it turned into one of those things that seems sadistic. Something scares you or hurts you, but you want more. It was her language. She’s an American, and writes in English. But it seemed like a whole other dialect that I would never understand, yet marvel at it’s beauty.
After reading “Yume No Hon” I found some excerpts of her novel, the first book of a duology, “The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden”. I found the writing more down to Earth, so to speak. It was still wonderful prose, but something that had more substance in basic English to me. After getting those two books, I still waited to read them. I figured I should wait for myself to be in the right frame of mind. Sometimes I think I have read books at the wrong time, and probably didn’t enjoy them as much as I would have at another point in my life. Well, recently I felt that spell come on me. But I didn’t want to read a series, even if just two books. So I got a copy of “Palimpsest” and gave it a shot.
Valente still writes in a dialect of English that most don’t know. Her use of the language makes it very much like an art form. But unlike my first experience, there is a story, a real plot, and good characters that have background, and speak like I would. She has turned her desire for the written word to be beautiful, and showcasing two sides of it.
Her building of the city of Palimpsest though is some of the most original I have ever read. Her ideas, the quirks she gives the city and it’s permanent residents, the surrounding architecture, the history, and the people are amazing. With her use of words, it makes it an utter joy to read sometimes, even with the horrific nature of some scenes and descriptions. The chapters would alternate between scenes in the world that we know, and scenes in Palimpsest. Usually the first section of a Palimpsest chapter would be used to give the reader background on the scene. It was a unique way of doing it, and something I found quite entertaining, instead of trying to fit this information in between the events of the scene that was going to be played out, and have a sometimes clumsy result.
The four main characters were interesting. They all had different desires, though all searching for something. Even if a little hollow, it seemed intended and well placed. I think Oleg was the most interesting considering what he goes through in figuring out what it is he needs and how to get it, and also was the best drawn character of the bunch. Some of the more minor characters too were interesting, and I would have liked to have more time getting to know more about them, especially Casmira, who eventually becomes November’s lover in Palimpsest.
One thing that needs to be mentioned is the sex. Those that have the tattoo get it from having sex with someone that already has the tattoo. And the sleep that comes after sex with a tattooed person is the only way to Palimpsest. The sex scenes are not overly done. There are not a lot of them, considering it is a key to the plot. Sometimes it is just implied. But when it is there, it is quick, with little detail, and done in a manner that fits the story. There is nothing gratuitous about it, other then make a point of how to some a trip to Palimpsest is like those getting a fix on a drug they are addicted to.
I have some hang-ups with the story itself, or at least the execution. Where the story falters is nearing the end. Not what a potential reader would like to hear, sure. But it’s not huge problems, in my mind. She worked the characters over rather well in the beginning. When they find out that their quartet is the key to continually staying within the city, it is sped along, worked over too fast as they come together. And just as they are getting to the big climax of the story, it’s over. I felt the ending, the characters final move, could have been extended by a good 20 pages at least. Don’t know if there was a statement to be had here, that the true reality is the world we live in, and because of this we are cut off from them now they are no longer immigrants (a term used often in the book), or if there was something else Valente had in mind. Sequel, maybe? But it doesn’t spoil the book as a whole.
Another hang up was keeping track of the characters. Some of this was due to lack of reading time. As I mentioned, each chapter alternated between reality and Palimpsest. For the first half of the book, if not more, each character got two consecutive chapters about what was happening with them, one each in the two different places. So characters would “disappear” for six chapters. And if it took me a couple of days to read six chapters (even if they were short at times), it was tough to remember back to what had happened to them when last encountering the character.
One other thing was how the four come together at the end. As I said, it seemed rushed. There was very little struggle. It appeared that the powers that be wanted this to happen. It turns out, or at least it seemed to me, that the narrator of the story was the city itself. But I could have used more information on why they were chosen. Or, given more of a struggle to get there. Though one of the minor characters actively displays her jealousy at this fact, too. Lends it some credibility, but still lacked just a bit of substance to me.
Even with the issues stated above, this was a most enjoyable read. I am finding that I have fallen off the proverbial fence on Valente’s writing and now want to buy past books. Even consider myself a “fan” of her work. This book showed maturity in her writing, becoming less about a love with the beauty of the written word and more about the story.
Between life and death, dreaming and waking, at the train stop beyond the end of the world is the city of Palimpsest. To get there is a miracle, a mystery, a gift, and a curse – a voyage permitted only to those who’ve always believed there’s another world than the one that meets the eye. Those fated to make the passage are marked forever by a map of that wondrous city tattooed on their flesh after a single orgasmic night. To this kingdom of ghost trains, lion-priests, living kanji, and cream-filled canals come four travelers: Oleg, a New York locksmith; the beekeeper November; Ludovico, a binder of rare books; and a young Japanese woman named Sei. They’ve each lost something important – a wife, a lover, a sister, a direction in life – and what they will find in Palimpsest is more than they could ever imagine.
This is the second book of Valente’s that I have read. I have known about her books for quite a while. We are talking years. The title and plot descriptions have intrigued me for just as long. I had read many reviews of her work. And through all this, I came to the conclusion that her writing scared me. In a good way, though. Especially after reading “Yume No Hon”, it turned into one of those things that seems sadistic. Something scares you or hurts you, but you want more. It was her language. She’s an American, and writes in English. But it seemed like a whole other dialect that I would never understand, yet marvel at it’s beauty.
After reading “Yume No Hon” I found some excerpts of her novel, the first book of a duology, “The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden”. I found the writing more down to Earth, so to speak. It was still wonderful prose, but something that had more substance in basic English to me. After getting those two books, I still waited to read them. I figured I should wait for myself to be in the right frame of mind. Sometimes I think I have read books at the wrong time, and probably didn’t enjoy them as much as I would have at another point in my life. Well, recently I felt that spell come on me. But I didn’t want to read a series, even if just two books. So I got a copy of “Palimpsest” and gave it a shot.
Valente still writes in a dialect of English that most don’t know. Her use of the language makes it very much like an art form. But unlike my first experience, there is a story, a real plot, and good characters that have background, and speak like I would. She has turned her desire for the written word to be beautiful, and showcasing two sides of it.
Her building of the city of Palimpsest though is some of the most original I have ever read. Her ideas, the quirks she gives the city and it’s permanent residents, the surrounding architecture, the history, and the people are amazing. With her use of words, it makes it an utter joy to read sometimes, even with the horrific nature of some scenes and descriptions. The chapters would alternate between scenes in the world that we know, and scenes in Palimpsest. Usually the first section of a Palimpsest chapter would be used to give the reader background on the scene. It was a unique way of doing it, and something I found quite entertaining, instead of trying to fit this information in between the events of the scene that was going to be played out, and have a sometimes clumsy result.
The four main characters were interesting. They all had different desires, though all searching for something. Even if a little hollow, it seemed intended and well placed. I think Oleg was the most interesting considering what he goes through in figuring out what it is he needs and how to get it, and also was the best drawn character of the bunch. Some of the more minor characters too were interesting, and I would have liked to have more time getting to know more about them, especially Casmira, who eventually becomes November’s lover in Palimpsest.
One thing that needs to be mentioned is the sex. Those that have the tattoo get it from having sex with someone that already has the tattoo. And the sleep that comes after sex with a tattooed person is the only way to Palimpsest. The sex scenes are not overly done. There are not a lot of them, considering it is a key to the plot. Sometimes it is just implied. But when it is there, it is quick, with little detail, and done in a manner that fits the story. There is nothing gratuitous about it, other then make a point of how to some a trip to Palimpsest is like those getting a fix on a drug they are addicted to.
I have some hang-ups with the story itself, or at least the execution. Where the story falters is nearing the end. Not what a potential reader would like to hear, sure. But it’s not huge problems, in my mind. She worked the characters over rather well in the beginning. When they find out that their quartet is the key to continually staying within the city, it is sped along, worked over too fast as they come together. And just as they are getting to the big climax of the story, it’s over. I felt the ending, the characters final move, could have been extended by a good 20 pages at least. Don’t know if there was a statement to be had here, that the true reality is the world we live in, and because of this we are cut off from them now they are no longer immigrants (a term used often in the book), or if there was something else Valente had in mind. Sequel, maybe? But it doesn’t spoil the book as a whole.
Another hang up was keeping track of the characters. Some of this was due to lack of reading time. As I mentioned, each chapter alternated between reality and Palimpsest. For the first half of the book, if not more, each character got two consecutive chapters about what was happening with them, one each in the two different places. So characters would “disappear” for six chapters. And if it took me a couple of days to read six chapters (even if they were short at times), it was tough to remember back to what had happened to them when last encountering the character.
One other thing was how the four come together at the end. As I said, it seemed rushed. There was very little struggle. It appeared that the powers that be wanted this to happen. It turns out, or at least it seemed to me, that the narrator of the story was the city itself. But I could have used more information on why they were chosen. Or, given more of a struggle to get there. Though one of the minor characters actively displays her jealousy at this fact, too. Lends it some credibility, but still lacked just a bit of substance to me.
Even with the issues stated above, this was a most enjoyable read. I am finding that I have fallen off the proverbial fence on Valente’s writing and now want to buy past books. Even consider myself a “fan” of her work. This book showed maturity in her writing, becoming less about a love with the beauty of the written word and more about the story.