Moose wrote:
> I enjoyed it ['Perdido Street Station'], although not as much as
> the reviewers who were quoted on the cover.
Although I always read the reviews on the cover (and the inside jacket,
and the first couple of pages, and...), usually *after* I've bought a
book, it's only out of my obsessive and compulsive need for "completion"
than any real interest. I just don't trust any of them, either because
of doubts about the objectivity of the review (Stephen King's seeming
endorsement of so much crap), or because of the subjective differences
the reviewer might have (I once read a review in Rolling Stone where the
reviewer bagged out a "grunge" band's new album, and then said at the
end of the review that he had never liked "grunge" and was more into
some other completely different style of music. I guess at least he told
us the worth of his review).
I generally rely on opinions from people I know, where you already have
some sensitivity to their preferences and style, making you better able
to estimate their applicability to your own preferences.
(At this point I should admit that, despite what I say above, yes, I
have read "The Da Vinci Code" based on its popularity rather than any
known person's opinion).
> I think it could use some editing to tighten it up a bit. There's
> some great stuff in it, very imaginative and some evocative writing,
> but also some flabby bits, to me. But size may sell in that sort of
> epic.
To avoid it becoming self-realising, I'll have to try avoid looking for
the flab. :-) People laud King's "The Stand" as a great, "horror" epic,
but to me it was always a book that needed a hell of a lot of purging,
rather than the unexpurgated lengthening that he gave it upon reissue
once he'd achieved the popularity to do whatever the hell he wanted.
I recently finished Mary Doria Russell's 'The Sparrow' and 'Children of
God', which I found were mostly deserving of the praise they've
received, except for a couple of little things that leave me somehow
resenting them both, through dissatisfaction and disagreement (which may
be based on ignorance on my part, but nevertheless...). I want to
recommend them, but my petty bitterness would prefer to bitch about them
behind their (paper)backs.
> I have The Scar waiting for when I'm next in that sort of mood.
I have another lister's recommendation coming up next (Raimond Gaita's
"The Philosopher's Dog"). "The Scar" may come after that, depending on
how "Perdido Street Station" turns out.
Cheers, and thanks,
Marc
Noosa Heads, Oz
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