Well, the (long) beginning sucked and so did the (short) end. The middle was ok. I liked the individual teeth metaphors but didn't understand how they...moreWell, the (long) beginning sucked and so did the (short) end. The middle was ok. I liked the individual teeth metaphors but didn't understand how they all tied together, and no one in book club really seemed to either. I liked exactly one passage enough to mark it: "Greeting cards routinely tell us everybody deserves love. No. Everybody deserves clean water. Not everybody deserves love all the time."
There were a few characters I liked (mainly women): Irie; Alsana; Clara; Hortense; Niece-of-Shame. (Ok, all women.) There were also characters I disliked: Samad; Archie (more or less) (this is why I hated the beginning of the book, because it's all Samad and Archie); the twins (Magid more than Millat); and of course all of the Chalfens, including Josh. Plus I was confused by the way some of the characters were super-realistic and some were super-charicatures, although I appreciate her anti-imperialist stance.
And that's basically all I've got. I don't regret reading it; I certainly wouldn't read it again. Lit fic: Over it.(less)
I was afraid for a long time that all the literary crap in this book was covering up what was really an overdone, boring plot.
It turned out not to be...moreI was afraid for a long time that all the literary crap in this book was covering up what was really an overdone, boring plot.
It turned out not to be true - the plot is cool - but the plot only inhabits about 100 pages of this monster 6 or 7 hundred pager of a capital-N Novel.
Really, Kim Stanley Robinson, did we need random-ish, unfathomable "lists" between each chapter? Actually, I can answer that for you. No.
And really, Kim Stanley Robinson, did you have to format your very cool, forgivably info-dump-y world building as apparently arbitrary segments of fake quotations? Nope. Nope, you did not.
And really, Kim Stanley Robinson, I know you want to make us feel like we have really experienced living throughout the solar system, but at some point, I CANNOT TAKE ANY MORE DESCRIPTION. Could you have moderated this somewhat and still been effective? Yes. Absolutely, yes.
If 2312 had been half its length, I probably would have given it four stars - at least. There is COOL SHIT in there. But as it is, I think it's a 2.5, rounded up to a 3 due to potential.
Plus, there's the part where despite all the gender bending and play with sexuality, all this stuff that could have contributed to something very progressive and different... it still managed to turn into a pretty darn conventional hetero romance. In a pretty weird and somewhat forced way, actually. Really, Kim Stanley Robinson, is that where you thought your story was going? Or is that what you thought was progressive? Or what?
Also, I really didn't understand the end of the Earth plot at all.
But that's just a side note, a frustration, a distraction. The real point is, somebody get that guy an editor.(less)
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