Perdido Street Station

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dios4vida
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Perdido Street Station

Post by dios4vida » October 5th, 2011, 3:33 pm

Hi guys.

So I finally got around to trying out China Mieville's Perdido Street Station. Please note that I say this with no animosity, disregard for the author's skill or reader's tastes, or any other negative connotations. This is a simple and honest question.

What was the appeal to that book? I found it slow, dreary, and far too filled with descriptions of the various places. There were so many names I couldn't keep them all straight. The intriguings bits - like the Ribs where nothing can be built, or even the plotline with the caterpillar - were lost to me amongst all of the train rides passing through so many boroughs. And while I've enjoyed plenty of books with gritty or squicky content, I put that book down and felt dirty.

What is it that appealed to you? (And again, that isn't in a derogatory tone, I truly want to know what made that book amazing to you.)
Brenda :)

Inspiration isn't about the muse. Inspiration is working until something clicks. ~Brandon Sanderson

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Mira
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Re: Perdido Street Station

Post by Mira » October 7th, 2011, 4:29 pm

Is this Literary Fiction? I could be wrong, because Lit Fiction isn't my thing, but I think people tend to like lit fiction because of the artistry of the words, rather than how enjoyable the story is.

So, that could be the draw for this book....

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dios4vida
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Re: Perdido Street Station

Post by dios4vida » October 7th, 2011, 4:37 pm

Mira wrote:Is this Literary Fiction? I could be wrong, because Lit Fiction isn't my thing, but I think people tend to like lit fiction because of the artistry of the words, rather than how enjoyable the story is.

So, that could be the draw for this book....
Hi, Mira. Long time no see. :)

I think this is a literary fantasy. It definitely has that verbiose lilt to the prose. I'm not a literary fan either, which probably didn't help, but I figured that so many people love him, maybe it wasn't quite so..."literary". I just don't understand how you can like something for the artistry of the words like you said when the story behind them isn't engaging. Guess that's why I stick to the sword-and-sorcery fantasy and urban fantasy stuff.
Brenda :)

Inspiration isn't about the muse. Inspiration is working until something clicks. ~Brandon Sanderson

Sean Cunningham
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Re: Perdido Street Station

Post by Sean Cunningham » October 12th, 2011, 4:40 pm

I made it 150 pages into the book and nothing was happening, so I gave up. I mentioned that to a friend and he said that's about when things start happening. I gave it another try and sure enough, the plot began to move right after my original stopping point.

As you say, I think he's a literary fantasy writer. The friend I mentioned is a lover of words so he likes China Mieville a lot more than I do. I do usually find him to be worth reading though and having read several of his books I can say he tends to get to the point earlier from there on. I enjoyed the sequels to Perdido Street Station more for this very reason. Plus Mieville loves his D&D Monster Manual, which makes a lot of sense when you look at all the races and creatures knocking around in that world. I enjoy some good world-building and I've flipped through a Monster Manual a few times myself.

I read his book The City & The City and was amazed by the concept and that he could pull it off, but started to feel a bit finished with it about two thirds of the way through the book. Fortunately that was exactly when the plot picked up for its run towards the end. When I read Kraken, I was impressed by the sense of disorientation his prose left me with, and the fluidity that gave London as he peeled back the normal world cover. And while I enjoyed the concepts in that book, there was a point where I was ready to move on, but the curious language left me unable to properly latch onto the characters. I'm not sorry I read it but I was glad to finish it.

Not being a literary fiction person myself his style isn't really my thing, but his ideas are often of interest to me. I can understand your difficulty getting along with Perdido Street Station. It was a close call for me.
You can't prove it won't happen.
- Futurama

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