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Embassytown
by China Miéville (Goodreads Author)
by China Miéville (Goodreads Author)
I'm ashamed to admit that I was doubting Mieville (sorry, don't know how to do the accent mark) at the beginning of this novel. All of his books prior to this one had grabbed me from the start. However, I almost felt like I was reading an anthropologist's field notebook about a tribe being studied, for the first quarter of the book.
Once it was all said and done though, I get why it was necessary. I'm still amazed he pulled the plot off. It would have been a disaster if attempted by a less adept writer.
The feel was, surprisingly, reminiscent of Ursula Le Guin in her book The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia and in The Left Hand of Darkness
Once it was all said and done though, I get why it was necessary. I'm still amazed he pulled the plot off. It would have been a disaster if attempted by a less adept writer.
The feel was, surprisingly, reminiscent of Ursula Le Guin in her book The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia and in The Left Hand of Darkness
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Quotes Amanda Liked
“It felt like being a child again, though it was not. Being a child is like nothing. It's only being. Later, when we think about it, we make it into youth.”
― China Miéville, Embassytown
― China Miéville, Embassytown
Reading Progress
| 06/23/2011 | page 50 |
|
14.0% | "so far, I'd have to say this ismy least fav. of his books. Kinda disappointed with it & I'm not sure why. I've loved everything he's written but this just isn't doin it for me. Hopefully I'll change my mind" |
| 07/14/2011 | page 159 |
|
45.0% | "ok, finally getting into it. Thought i was reading an anthropological study for the 1st 100 pages" |
| 08/13/2011 | page 303 |
|
86.0% | "How did i dare doubt him!? This is extraordinary!" |
Comments (showing 1-17 of 17) (17 new)
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Amanda
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rated it 4 stars
Nov 16, 2010 05:37am
YES! EFFIN YES!!
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Do you really have to ask? So far, I've just read the prologue and it's going to be a very interesting story. Lots of mystery already. I love how he describes traversing space. He likens it to sailing across the ocean in the 1700s; very dangerous, a lot of times people and ships don't make it. As opposed to most sci fi stories where a ship zooms from A to B no problem. There are already a bunch of different aliens and concepts only China could come up with so it's going to be a very fun read.
I'll be very interested to hear how you like this one. I resisted reading 'Perdido Street Station'. I struggled with it while reading it, but when I got to page 519 and Isaac tells Yag, 'No. We have to go to Perdido Street Station,' it hit me like a ton of bricks how damn good that book is. I have 'The Scar', 'Kraken' and 'The Iron Council' on deck somewhere.
everything China writes is so fascinating and weird. Always a good read. Embassytown is no exception; kept me intruiged till the last page.
Alain wrote: "I'll be very interested to hear how you like this one. I resisted reading 'Perdido Street Station'. I struggled with it while reading it, but when I got to page 519 and Isaac tells Yag, 'No. We hav..."Having read everything he's written, except this newest one, the Bas-lag (un)trilogy is still my undisputed favorite. I thought The Scar and Iron Council were just as good as Perdido Street, better in some aspects.
I've only gotten a little ways into Embassytown, but it's brilliant so far.
Amanda wrote: "Alain wrote: "I'll be very interested to hear how you like this one. I resisted reading 'Perdido Street Station'. I struggled with it while reading it, but when I got to page 519 and Isaac tells Ya..."I guess I have some things to add to my [seemingly endless] Amazon Wish List. Is there a particular order they should be read in? Amazon is really bad about helping buyers out with series order.
I'm about 1/4 into the book and about ready to give up. Am taking your word that this is going to pick up ...
Exactly my thoughts. I've read a lot of China's novels and I've got used to the fact that story always start at about page 80-100, doesn't matter which book. But here, he seriously pushed the envelope to new dimensions. Fortunately, it was for the best, trust me. Half-way through, I started to enjoy this book A LOT and it came back to the good old China Mieville style.
challenging and I'm glad I didn't give it away after the first couple of chapters although I felt like it. As you say, I couldn't figure out how Mieville was going to write his way out of the dilemma. Another book that had me in its thrall like this was Jussi Adler-Olsen's *The Keeper of Lost Causes*.I was also put in mind of Ursula Le Guin and, as with Le Guin, I found my dreams were deeply enriched while reading this book.
