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ashleylm 's review for:
Masters of Atlantis
by Charles Portis
Another very high 4 stars--it's hard for me to give 5s unless I have an emotional reaction, otherwise the book has to be absolutely perfect at what it sets out to do.
This is a Very Strange Book (which is a good thing--not remotely formulaic). It's the only Portis I've read, so not sure how it relates to his oeuvre, or if this is his normal style or not. It reads, to a large extent, as if one were reading a religious or mythological book (e.g. the Simarillion, the Ramayana, the Bible, etc.), rather than a novel--the plot sweeps along, there's not a lot of psychological introspection, and every so often the plot halts for the sake of a list, or a scene becomes excruciatingly minutely rendered, in huge contrast to the normal goings-on. I thought it was nifty, and suited the subject matter (the history of a weird made-up (or is it?) religion/belief-system and the people who discovered/invented it). In that sense, it's barely a novel--it reads more like the romances (in the old sense of the word) which preceded the invention of the novel in the 18th century.
I was also reminded a bit of The Hearing Trumpet or The Towers of Trebizond ... it's just a wonderfully off-kilter book, like its characters. Worth checking out--you'll know right away if you appreciate the style or if it will not be for you.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
This is a Very Strange Book (which is a good thing--not remotely formulaic). It's the only Portis I've read, so not sure how it relates to his oeuvre, or if this is his normal style or not. It reads, to a large extent, as if one were reading a religious or mythological book (e.g. the Simarillion, the Ramayana, the Bible, etc.), rather than a novel--the plot sweeps along, there's not a lot of psychological introspection, and every so often the plot halts for the sake of a list, or a scene becomes excruciatingly minutely rendered, in huge contrast to the normal goings-on. I thought it was nifty, and suited the subject matter (the history of a weird made-up (or is it?) religion/belief-system and the people who discovered/invented it). In that sense, it's barely a novel--it reads more like the romances (in the old sense of the word) which preceded the invention of the novel in the 18th century.
I was also reminded a bit of The Hearing Trumpet or The Towers of Trebizond ... it's just a wonderfully off-kilter book, like its characters. Worth checking out--you'll know right away if you appreciate the style or if it will not be for you.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).