5. The Intuitionist, by Colson Whitehead

[rydra_wong]

There are books you can't put down, and then there are books you put down a third of the way through so that you can run to the computer and start ordering more books by the same author. The Intuitionist is that good

Comments

[_minxy_]

Huh, you and coffeeandink recommend?

*adds to wishlist at Powell's*

[decarnin]

And then there are books you rec to friends after only reading the first 3 paragraphs of the review...

:-)

This sounds really interesting.

[sashajwolf]

the conflict between rival schools of elevator inspectors, the Empiricists with their faith in dutiful physical inspection and the Intuitionists who aspire to sense defects by tuning into the the soul of the machine itself.

Wow, this sounds like exactly the kind of thing I like. Thanks for the review.

[poilass]

This one has been on my wishlist awhile -- will bump it closer to the top! Thanks for the review.

[danceswithwords]

Oh, I adored that book. I especially liked the way something so seemingly mundane--an elevator--became the doorway to a larger exploration of philosophical worldviews.

I didn't get the sense that the book was set in the 40s or 50s but rather in some politically and technologically amorphous 80s, though there was a certain timeless quality to it.

I also recommend John Henry Days, which has a wonderful historical hook for exploring race and heritage in a way that felt, to me, new and unusual.