Hugo: The City and the City (2010)
The City and the City by China Miéville
Read September 12, 2013 - September 20, 2013
Premise: Two cities co-exist in the same geographic space--to the point of adjacent buildings being in different cities--only separated by the culture of each and the compliance of the citizens to maintain the boundaries. A detective in one city investigates the murder of a young woman from the other city whose body, somehow, has made it across the border.
Verdict: This book was amazingly evocative while still staying true to its appropriated genre style--by which I mean, the sparse language of the crime/cop novel was used very well to describe the setup of the cities in question (which I myself have failed to do five times now when trying to explain this book to people.) Sometimes I would look up from the page and have to readjust to the world not being the way it was in the novel. I found the climax itself a bit confused and muddled but I guess, in the end, it all came out rather nicely (if slightly predictable--which isn't a strike against it by any means.) I had some plot hole complaints while reading it, but once I was finished it all shook out well enough that I don't feel like complaining anymore.
Definitely recommend--especially if you want to give yourself a little trippy break from the real world.
Read September 12, 2013 - September 20, 2013
Premise: Two cities co-exist in the same geographic space--to the point of adjacent buildings being in different cities--only separated by the culture of each and the compliance of the citizens to maintain the boundaries. A detective in one city investigates the murder of a young woman from the other city whose body, somehow, has made it across the border.
Verdict: This book was amazingly evocative while still staying true to its appropriated genre style--by which I mean, the sparse language of the crime/cop novel was used very well to describe the setup of the cities in question (which I myself have failed to do five times now when trying to explain this book to people.) Sometimes I would look up from the page and have to readjust to the world not being the way it was in the novel. I found the climax itself a bit confused and muddled but I guess, in the end, it all came out rather nicely (if slightly predictable--which isn't a strike against it by any means.) I had some plot hole complaints while reading it, but once I was finished it all shook out well enough that I don't feel like complaining anymore.
Definitely recommend--especially if you want to give yourself a little trippy break from the real world.