I'm trying to decide if I should keep reading this one or not. Barker is certainly clever, and the premise is unique (the story is told through a seriI'm trying to decide if I should keep reading this one or not. Barker is certainly clever, and the premise is unique (the story is told through a series of letters stolen from a Postbox - each from a different character in the small town of Burley Cross - would make a fun movie).
But, I'm on page 68 and I don't feel like I'm going anywhere... the letters are a bit too tangential.
I'm not going to rate this because I just couldn't finish it. I wanted to. I really tried. I had been looking forward to it because I loved Ship BreakI'm not going to rate this because I just couldn't finish it. I wanted to. I really tried. I had been looking forward to it because I loved Ship Breaker.
Bacigalupi is no doubt a talented writer. His imagined future world is extremely well-crafted. Dropped into it, it felt real and gritty. The characters were authentic, although not exactly sympathetic.
I do like stories told from multiple perspectives, but in this case I couldn't get a fix on any of them. I couldn't see where any of their stories were going.
There was a lot of future-speak jargon and foreign slang. Not being familiar with the languages, I wasn't sure how much was real or manufactured by Bacigalupi. Not that it matters. I'm all in favour of using foreign languages and creating new terminology - I do it all the time - there was just too much of it on top of the multiple perspectives for me to feel rooted in the story.
I found myself thinking that I'd rather watch this story as a movie.
This hasn't put me off reading other stories by Bacigalupi, because I do appreciate his talent. This particular book just wasn't for me. ...more
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