06-17-2020, 02:53 PM | #16 | |
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06-18-2020, 09:49 AM | #17 | ||
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06-18-2020, 10:07 AM | #18 |
cacoethes scribendi
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I think one of the things that made the book stand out for me was the use of San Francisco. Between my own researches concerning the city, and finding its distinctive character used in this and other stories*, the place feels quite real to me. I'd love to learn how the reality matches my imagination.
* I really like Christopher Moore's Love Story vampire trilogy, and these first led me to learn of Emperor Norton - a secondary character referred to as Emperor of San Francisco in these books. Apparently the character is also in Moore's Grim Reaper series, but I haven't read those yet. Last edited by gmw; 06-18-2020 at 10:31 AM. Reason: typos |
06-18-2020, 01:12 PM | #19 | |||
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06-18-2020, 01:28 PM | #20 | |
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06-18-2020, 01:37 PM | #21 | |
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06-18-2020, 04:26 PM | #22 | |
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06-18-2020, 07:03 PM | #23 | |
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Thank you for your post, astrangerhere. It does seem that the author put many stereotypes into this book. Your post was insightful and helpful to me in highlighting several issues. I thought some of them were awkwardly inserted into the book text and character conversations. That’s why I enjoy our book club discussions because other people’s views and life experiences can improve your understanding and reading of a text. Last edited by Bookworm_Girl; 06-18-2020 at 07:07 PM. |
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06-20-2020, 11:45 AM | #24 |
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What one person gets out of a book, someone else can get someone completely different. I do like when we get into a discussion that has differing opinions.
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06-20-2020, 12:00 PM | #25 |
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Leaving all my lived experiences, etc., out of this, I wanted this book to be about the cartography. I am sure I am not the only person who saw the folded maps as a throwback to Dune's notion of folding space. That is the story I would have preferred to read!
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06-20-2020, 07:08 PM | #26 |
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I would have found that interesting as well, astrangerhere. Not as the whole point of the story, but at least more detail about why it was limited to only short distances, what the costs (to the practitioner) were, etc.
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06-20-2020, 09:30 PM | #27 |
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I had wondered if my reaction the first time around might be close: that the author had trouble settling on exactly what sort of story it was. From what I've seen so far, Klages has written mostly shorter works and may have shied away from the tome it would have required to cover everything touched on in this story in greater detail. Or, as we saw with Neil Gaiman in The Graveyard Book (and you can find in some other books by Gaiman), perhaps Klages simply prefers to just draw out the reader's own imagination. In support of this latter theory...
Another novella that I've mentioned here before is Wakulla Springs by Ellen Klages and Andy Duncan. It is another odd story that is part historical fiction, part mystery, part romance (a lesser part than this), with mere hints of fantasy, but no LGBT theme. I found it an intriguing read. |
06-20-2020, 09:51 PM | #28 |
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I agree there was just too much genre clash going on. I almost gave up on the book at 50%. The author has received awards for her historical fiction, and I think that explains why the history part was so interesting. I thought the first 25% in the modern world was well-written, setting up an interesting mystery to be resolved. Then the next 25% was a mess. The folded maps was the only magic. There wasn’t much mystery, and it seemed the book was pivoting to a romance. Not to mention all the tropes/stereotypes piled on top.
I also agree with some of the earlier comments that the story was too on the surface. I would have preferred a more focused story with fewer characters with deeper development. I would have enjoyed more magic. I thought the folded maps concept was interesting. Last edited by Bookworm_Girl; 06-20-2020 at 09:56 PM. |
06-20-2020, 11:06 PM | #29 |
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What was the map magic even doing in the book? Why introduce that and use it only minimally (and unnecessarily), and then come up with a whole different magic for the finale?
Why include Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, for gosh sakes? Why include the three-garment rule (which, yes, was certainly interesting) and then not make use of it? Why include so many indistinct characters: Franny, Babs, Polly--why were they there? What did they add to the story? Why the Cole Porter songs (which, yes, I liked because I like Cole Porter)? But how do they fit the story? All this stuff--it was generally interesting as local color, but it wasn't well integrated into a novella. In a 500-page book, fine--I like detail and subplots and tangents. But in a novella, I expect everything to serve the story, and here that didn't happen. What little story there was couldn't bear the weight of all these extraneous details. I'm overgeneralizing, I'm sure. But a week after reading, this is how I remember the book. |
06-21-2020, 12:12 AM | #30 |
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The map thing threw me a little the first time around, but by the end it became obvious (I thought) that it was introduced so the reader would be ready for the "magic" at the end of the story. As a concept, the map thing seemed both unlikely for a "witch" and a bit common-place for science (if you read enough sci-fi some variation of folded space crops pretty regularly), so I'm not surprised she didn't expand on it.
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