The Winter Vault - Part 1 Riverbed (spoilers allowed)

[Hugh]

Part 1 covers just over half of the book, but there is no easy place to subdivide it. Spoilers are fine as long as they are not to events in the later parts.

Coming back to this book having read it 10 years ago, what struck me most was the poetic density of the prose and the amount of detail. How well do you feel Michaels introduces her characters? Did you find the style helpful or difficult? Any other thoughts on this section are welcome.

[Sam]

In answer to Hugh's question, I thought the first section was pretty accessible and easy to read.The jarring part of the style would be the shifts in scene, time, place and voice., but I would catch on in a moment and it really only bothered me when drowsy and inattentive. The characters were fine and the meeting scene was very well done. My interest increased in passages about creation, especially those devoted to engineering. The displacement of people, towns, etc. due to land seizure by government for public domain interested me but I had researched that for an project of mine awhile ago, so it didn't have the impact, had it been fresh. The Egyptian scenes seemed well researched but did not have the immediacy of the Canadian scenes. The Abu Simbel rescue again seemed more researched than experienced though that is the rule rather than exception in researched material and I don't mean to criticize, just to compare with the Canadian scenes.

[Hugh]

Thanks Sam. I found much of the researched material fascinating, perhaps because most of it was unfamiliar to me, at least the first time I read it.

[Sam]

Hugh wrote: "Thanks Sam. I found much of the researched material fascinating, perhaps because most of it was unfamiliar to me, at least the first time I read it."

I agree Hugh. I think my post probably picked my weariness because I enjoyed the researched material too and the author'svof what to write on was excellent. The whole theme of displacement is a theme that I feel is rich and underexplored. The usual approach is to write of displacement by hostility, but historically, there are so many examples where the intent was not to harm.

[Abeselom]

It was an intriguing book. Although I felt there are a lot of things to decipher. It was thick with references and allusions. Most of them I got. In your experience, Hugh, were you able to discover the book anew up on your second reading?

[Hugh]

Abeselom wrote: "It was an intriguing book. Although I felt there are a lot of things to decipher. It was thick with references and allusions. Most of them I got. In your experience, Hugh, were you able to discover..."
My first reading was so long ago that I had forgotten a lot of the details, but I liked it for the same reasons.

[Catherine]

The first part of this book took my breath away. Such beautiful, vivid writing. I knew nothing about the Aswan Dam and its consequences, so that was so interesting. I'm glad to have read it.