12-13-2015, 09:16 AM
Oooh, literary Science Fiction. Or at least that was the way it was positioned. All, I know is that the Science Fiction aspects of this book seemed like they were tacked on to a novel about middle and upper class British folk from 1984 to 2045.
It's the story of Holly Sykes and how she gets caught up in the battle between the Horologists and Anchorites. It is made up of six distinct stories told from a variety of view points. Holly Sykes narrates the first one and pops in and out of the rest of them. Sometimes it feels like she disappears for long periods of time and then author remembers he is supposed to be telling Holly's story.
The stories are all really well told. But the focus on the point of the novel seems to be lacking. As we came to the end, I was just wishing they would wrap it up all ready and if the author went on another literary detour, I was going to have to punch him.
The Science Fiction elements are what bothered me the most. Do you remember the movie "Throw Momma from the train"? Do you remember the lady author who wanted to write a story about submarines but didn't know the first things about sailing or water or submarines. So, during her narratives she would just fake what people should be doing on the bridge of the ship and the dialogue between the characters was really awkward? Well, that's how the sci-fi aspects came across. I kept thinking well that was really poor word or phrase to use.
And probably the worst part is when the author wants to show how clever he is. In this case one of the sections is about an author and not a very good one or one with fading literary powers and clearly it's an allusion to Mitchell himself in that humble brag sort of way.
It was a slog and I'm glad it's over.
It's the story of Holly Sykes and how she gets caught up in the battle between the Horologists and Anchorites. It is made up of six distinct stories told from a variety of view points. Holly Sykes narrates the first one and pops in and out of the rest of them. Sometimes it feels like she disappears for long periods of time and then author remembers he is supposed to be telling Holly's story.
The stories are all really well told. But the focus on the point of the novel seems to be lacking. As we came to the end, I was just wishing they would wrap it up all ready and if the author went on another literary detour, I was going to have to punch him.
The Science Fiction elements are what bothered me the most. Do you remember the movie "Throw Momma from the train"? Do you remember the lady author who wanted to write a story about submarines but didn't know the first things about sailing or water or submarines. So, during her narratives she would just fake what people should be doing on the bridge of the ship and the dialogue between the characters was really awkward? Well, that's how the sci-fi aspects came across. I kept thinking well that was really poor word or phrase to use.
And probably the worst part is when the author wants to show how clever he is. In this case one of the sections is about an author and not a very good one or one with fading literary powers and clearly it's an allusion to Mitchell himself in that humble brag sort of way.
It was a slog and I'm glad it's over.
So much for the flickr badge idea. Dammit
