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Old 05-29-2009, 04:14 AM   #5
montsnmags
Grand Sorcerer
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I remember that one of the things I liked about Perdido Street Station was its arbitrary strangeness. By that I mean that it happily threw some of the most unusual scenes and beings and spaces and communities at you, but didn't have that self-conscious "Hey, look at how different this is!" feel about it. I sometimes find that lesser fantasy can go "Oh, look, dragons/magic/fairies that are slightly different to the regular tropes. Weird, hey?". Perdido's assumption of normality and its apparent consistency and reason made falling into its universe quick, painless, even unnoticed. Quite admirable.

I'm reminded of a novel I read a very long time ago (mid-teens?) called Unquenchable Fire, by Rachel Pollack. Although the geography was our world, its "rules" of reality/beliefs/spirituality were arbitrarily different. I think the similarity is the "suburban fantasy" connection, and that immediate assumption of its universe. I never see this novel mentioned anywhere, so I very much wonder if its one of those seen-through-young-eyes opinions I retain and that it's not as good as I remember it to be (though, for the life of me, I can't remember the plot). I keep it on my shelves because it's a "keeper", and with the intent to one day reread it. I grabbed it off the shelves the other day while waiting for something, and reading the first few pages it reminded me of why I enjoyed it.

Interesting that the new one reminds you of Chabon. I very much enjoyed The Yiddish Policemen's Union. (Did we have mention of this between us once before? My memory can be quite ordinary at times).

Cheers,
Marc
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