Perdido means lost

[tblumens]

I finally finished reading "Perdido Street Station". Based on recommendations of my friends, from both sides of the Atlantic, I expected to enjoy it a lot. But I didn't. It was one of those books that we plod along more because we feel we're supposed to than because we're enjoying it. I suppose there was also hope that it'd get better. And it did,

Comments

[buhrger]

All of you who love China Miéville's books - why do you disagree?
you're making an assumption there. as i noted back here, character is at best the third most important thing in a book for me.

[tblumens]

But you must disagree with something from my post. After all, you enjoyed the book much more than I did. Why?

[buhrger]

as i talk about in the post to which i linked, it's not so important for me to like the characters i read about, as long as the setting is interesting.

[tblumens]

Interesting. To me the setting is nothing without the characters... Which might be a reflection of something male/female: most outdorsy men I know choose the trips based on the location; many women choose based on who's going.

[buhrger]

although i'd never call myself outdoorsy. when i say setting, i mean all the details of the world-creation. in tolkien, the languages and the history are the big drawing cards. in miéville, it's the politics and economics. same thing with frank herbert. speculative social science interests me, i suppose.

[buhrger]

oh, and miéville's conception of magic is kewl too. and le guin for politics and anthropology, of course.

[tblumens]

I never meant to say that you are outdoorsy. That's why your journeys are in written worlds...