It's a curious thing, but though I don't think I could say why, the more I read what you had to say about Bennett's novels, the more I found myself convinced that I would never want to read them. It's almost a perfect inverse of the "I have to read that!" I felt when I encountered descriptions of Sabriel, or Snake Agent, or Guns of the Dawn, or in a different medium, A Bride's Story.
I don't know that you did. It's entirely possible that you gave me a quite accurate sense of a novel on which our tastes differ. It's not to be expected, after all, that we would always have the same taste! For example, I like Ayn Rand's two big novels a lot, whereas I gave up on Jane Eyre about 20% of the way in, unable to endure another line; I believe your reactions in both cases are different. . . .
(My younger sister came down from San Francisco for the wedding, and one of the things she said to me when we talked the evening before was that when we were both in our teens, she picked up the saying de gustibus non disputandum from me. . . .)
Yeah. But I was hoping to get people to engage with my ideas, not to turn you off the novel, so in that sense I did do a crap job.
But aside from that, you might actually read a completely different novel. I suggest, next time you cruise by Mysterious Galaxy, you take a look at the first chapter or two, and see what you think.
I very much agree with what you say about worldbuilding and character, and I love what you say about how in some fantasies, you sense a connection between the characters and the cosmos. That's a wonderful observation.
I have City of Stairs sitting over there on my desk to be read next (currently rereading the first three Anne McCaffrey Dragonflight books - talk about how fantasy has changed! I am definitely not a thirteen year old reading these for the first time). I mostly skimmed your article though because I already probably know too much about City of Stairs but your comment that you like how women are handled makes me doubly interested to read this next, as I am very perturbed by how McCaffrey handled women in my current reads!
Yeah . . . Anne McCaffrey is on my list of "keep the fond memories." Though I still like the Menolly, books--or did on my last read a couple decades ago.
Such harpies, all the women! Except Brekke! I am reading the second - I found a 3-in-1 at Half Price, was bored one day so strolled through - and thought ahhh! I was shocked by how the women were portrayed - and how my young self didn't remember at all. My young self was very clueless (but I read them in the 70's, so yeah. I am also pretty fascinated by the book structure because I have had a sharp eye on the structure of books I've been reading lately (because I am tearing apart my own!)
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(My younger sister came down from San Francisco for the wedding, and one of the things she said to me when we talked the evening before was that when we were both in our teens, she picked up the saying de gustibus non disputandum from me. . . .)
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But aside from that, you might actually read a completely different novel. I suggest, next time you cruise by Mysterious Galaxy, you take a look at the first chapter or two, and see what you think.
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You'll like the women in this one.
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Anyway, looking forward to City of Stairs!
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