21st Century Literature discussion
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Embassytown
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Embassytown - Background, no spoilers
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To get us started, have you read any other China Mieville books? Do you typically read sci-fi? He is known for writing across different genres, but many involve invented worlds.
I'm in! I've read a number of his works. To my taste, they vary rather dramatically; my favorites are Embassytown and The City & the City. This'll be a second read for Embassytown.This time, it's an audiobook. I'm charmed by how they used stereo to show the duality of the ambassadors.
My library hold is still about 2 weeks out but I'll jump in at some point when it comes in. This will be my first China Mieville but several of his books have been on my TBR for sometime. I'm excited to get started!
I read this in August 2014 and will not be re-reading. I remember nothing about the book, so doubtful I'll participate unless something commented on releases a dam of remembrance. My less that helpful review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... - indicates I found it hard to get into but that reading it was encouraging me to go back and finish Perdido Street Station. I've yet to pick Perdido Street back up, but hope springs eternal.
Mark, I'm very curious to hear more about how they handle the audio! That could be interesting! I actually started with audio but found myself so lost in this world I didn't understand that I switched to an ebook, but now I wish I'd kept going.I have only read The City and The City, but I loved it and it made me want to read more of his work. Embassytown feels quite different, but I'm appreciating this world he's constructed. I don't usually like space-based sci-fi, but I like that this one gets into some interesting topics.
Hee hee, Mieville's "space" is a lot closer to the London he writes about in Kraken than most writer's ideas of space! Yes, there are many hints about this world that are encoded in the text, and I wondered how they could be rendered with mere audio. Frankly, I remember trying to puzzle out why the text was jumbled up when I read the print version.
Basically, the human ambassadors speak between the left and right channels of the stereo as the speakers alternate, while Language (to use Mieville's word) is rendered in two tracks overlapping. It's surprisingly understandable.
I'll be joining on this, probably starting in a week or ten days.This will be my second Mieville. The previous one was The Last Days of New Paris, which probably isn't his best but which I very much enjoyed anyway... the Surrealist movement working as the French resistance in the second world war and alternative histories, etc. I've been wanting to read more of his books for ages.
Mark wrote: "Hee hee, Mieville's "space" is a lot closer to the London he writes about in Kraken than most writer's ideas of space! Yes, there are many hints about this world that are encoded in the text, and..."
Mark, that's interesting!
Glad you'll be joining us Emily!
My hold came in earlier than expected so I've gotten started. The language is taking a bit of getting used to, but I am so intrigued.
yes. I agree. Intrigued is the right word. And puzzled.
Cordelia, Oh, you ain't seen nothin' yet. I've always snorted quietly to myself as Star Trek visited planet after planet that a) spoke English, and b) looked pretty much like what you'd see in Hollywood. Mr. Miéville drop-kicks THAT particular literary tic completely out of the stadium.In much of his other work, it puts him, as he himself has said, in the "weird fiction" camp, but here, his world building confronts the reader with the question "What is unimaginable?"
I'm still puzzled and intrigued. Not trying too hard to understand it. Just letting it flow over me.
Cordelia wrote: "I'm still puzzled and intrigued. Not trying too hard to understand it. Just letting it flow over me."Cordelia, I had to take the same approach - letting go of trying to understand everything and just see where things go.
Reviews:By Ursula Le Guin: https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
NY Times: "...this place seems at once wildly imagined from scratch and phantasmagorically drawn from life." : https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/bo...
L.A. Times: https://www.latimes.com/books/la-xpm-...
Ha, I like that Mark! Google images produces some interesting images of what the Ariekei might look like. I like this one:
https://outtherebooks.wordpress.com/2...
Hmmm, I've been analyzing the TOC. The TOC for the audiobook is at: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2iuhemf6re6...It looks like the divisions labeled "Part x" are introduced by the audiobook production, as are the multiple identical listings with advancing time stamps. This is different than the divisions labeled "PART x," which are one of CM's divisions.
He introduces a dizzying array of divisions, so it's not too surprising that the audiobook couldn't find a distinct new system to overlay the author's. (Why they felt they needed to add to the confusion is unexplained.)
Let's see: here are the divisions CM uses:
PROEM
0.2, 0.3
PART 1-Income, 2-Festivals, 3-Like as Not
Subdivided irregularly into interleaved "Formerly 1-10" and "Latterday 1-8"
PART 4-Addict, 5-Notes, 6-New Kings, 7-The Languageless, 8-The Parley, 9-The Relief
Subdivided irregularly into "Nine" through "Thirty-One"
Whew!
I've just started reading and I'll plan to participate in the discussion threads.This is my first China Mieville book.
Glad you're joining us Sue!Mark, thanks for sorting out the weirdness between the print and audio. For anyone joining the other discussion threads, the intent is to discuss the first half in one, and the whole book in the other.
... and it turns out CM provides an explanation of (some of) his TOC strangeness at the end of "Formerly, 10."
21st Century Literature
Books mentioned in this topic
The Last Days of New Paris (other topics)Perdido Street Station (other topics)
Embassytown (other topics)
The City & the City (other topics)
Embassytown (other topics)
Who else will be joining our discussion this month?