Hulver's site || A discussion board dedicated to the Hussite movement of the 16th century

Diaries
Everything
Who's Online?
FAQ / Help

Perdido Street Station

By Gedvondur (Sat Jul 07, 2012 at 12:19:38 AM EST) books, what, fuck, actual, the (all tags)

I don't get it. Help me HuSi!

I'm about a third of the way through this book. I find it hard to pick it up and tedious to read. I don't like or even really care about any of the characters. Everybody tells me I should *LOVE* this book. So far, I've stopped reading it twice.

What the actual fuck am I missing? I freely admit, I don't like dystopias, and this book is clearly set in one. I've been trying to see past that and enjoy it for the story. But I'm not getting it. So far, everybody is more or less insane. They've either acted against their own best interests or have made a life of acting against their own best interests. Yet they still manage to not serve any higher cause than what they personally want, which they seem to pursue despite the damage it does to themselves and those around them. It's like a sci-fi drama done by 20-somethings trying to find themselves in New York.

The aliens and technology are....less than believable. I keep slogging at it. I don't care about spoilers, tell me why I shouldn't just delete this heap off of my poor Kindle.

< overheard from the kid's bedroom | Attn: Religionologists. >

Login

Poll

Votes: 3
Results	\|	Other Polls

Related Links

- husi
- Gedvondur's Diary

Hit Counter

63 Husi users have viewed this.

Comment Controls

Perdido Street Station | 20 comments (20 topical, 0 hidden)

I'm really curious... by Metatone (4.00 / 1) #1 Sat Jul 07, 2012 at 06:21:41 AM EST

about the answers you'll get.

Somehow something warns me off Mieville, although everything else I like means people keep recommending him...

: See now by Gedvondur (2.00 / 0) #6 Sat Jul 07, 2012 at 12:58:23 PM EST

That's *exactly* how I've felt about it. I finally just bought the book and gave it a try. Now I don't know what to do.

My wife didn't like it either, even after being told that Mieville is a writer's writer. She found him to be *far* too purple and too uninterested in the story.

"So I will be hitting the snatch hard, I think, tonight." - gzt
[ Parent ]

the whole thing is like that by clover kicker (4.00 / 2) #2 Sat Jul 07, 2012 at 06:40:56 AM EST

So feel free to bail out.

I liked the descriptions and the world building, the actual plot was a bit annoying.

: Ugh by Gedvondur (2.00 / 0) #7 Sat Jul 07, 2012 at 12:59:21 PM EST

That's exactly what I am afraid of. Hmm...well lets get some more commentary from the more week-day friendly HuSi crowd....

"So I will be hitting the snatch hard, I think, tonight." - gzt
[ Parent ]

Stick with it by codemonkey uk (4.00 / 1) #3 Sat Jul 07, 2012 at 08:05:22 AM EST

It is very slow to develop, and I found it hard to get into, but as a whole it was worth the effort. It is a well rounded story, with a solid ending, though the setting really does require a significant suspension of disbelief.

--- Thad ---
Almost as Smart As you.

PS: Aliens by codemonkey uk (4.00 / 2) #4 Sat Jul 07, 2012 at 09:39:44 AM EST

Do not think of the exotic species as aliens, they are just other species, of the same planet. It is a fantastical setting, not a futuristic one, and space travel isn't a thing. HTH

--- Thad ---
Almost as Smart As you.

[ Parent ]

Hmmm by Gedvondur (2.00 / 0) #5 Sat Jul 07, 2012 at 12:56:17 PM EST

Interesting point. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks!

"So I will be hitting the snatch hard, I think, tonight." - gzt

[ Parent ]

: Fantasy by ucblockhead (4.00 / 1) #9 Sat Jul 07, 2012 at 03:55:56 PM EST

It's pure fantasy. Some mild spoilers in the sequel ("Scar") make it clear that this isn't remotely to be taken as SF. The world of Bas Lag is flat.
---
[ucblockhead is] useless and subhuman
[ Parent ]

Ya know... by clock (4.00 / 1) #8 Sat Jul 07, 2012 at 01:51:26 PM EST

I read Kraken and that's about all I need from him. The world was interesting, but the plot just wasn't there.

_{I agree with clock entirely --Kellnerin}

: kraken was relatively weak. by aphrael (4.00 / 1) #10 Sun Jul 08, 2012 at 10:51:23 AM EST

PSS, the scar, and embassytown are way more plot-driven.
If television is a babysitter, the internet is a drunk librarian who won't shut up.
[ Parent ]

i love mieville by aphrael (4.00 / 1) #11 Sun Jul 08, 2012 at 10:55:22 AM EST

primarily for the atmosphere and the texture of the world. Bas-Lag is about the most vividly drawn world since Tolkien, to be honest (a comparison which Mieville would find distasteful, but shrug).

but even so ... it took me a great while to get into it, much more so than most books.

> Yet they still manage to not serve any higher cause than what they personally want, which they seem to pursue despite the damage it does to themselves and those around them.

that strikes me as being horrifyingly realistic, to be honest. there are no heros, just a lot of self-interested short-sighted people.

so ... PSS, for me, was a combination of a vividly drawn, gritty world, with people who were realistically broken and therefore interesting.

the plot eventually picks up. and the ending is very well executed.

If television is a babysitter, the internet is a drunk librarian who won't shut up.

It's interesting... by Metatone (4.00 / 1) #12 Sun Jul 08, 2012 at 03:49:38 PM EST

my GF loves the theatre (used to be an actress) and loves Chekov.

I can't argue that the characters aren't realistic. But my feeling is, I live a life filled with realistic characters, I don't really need more of their stories from my fiction activities...

(There's more to it than that, but it is part of it...)

[ Parent ]

Yes by Gedvondur (2.00 / 0) #15 Mon Jul 09, 2012 at 09:49:04 AM EST

You've hit on something there.

I read for escape, to get away from the real world, which is why I read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy.

As to Perdido Street Station, it seems to me that the characters are....well not that realistic in a lot of ways. They are portrayed as smart or worldly people and I find their behavior to be....not real consistent. I dunno, I guess that's *real* but it doesn't seem like it to me.

"So I will be hitting the snatch hard, I think, tonight." - gzt

[ Parent ]

: Well, that's the other thing... by Metatone (4.00 / 1) #19 Tue Jul 10, 2012 at 08:02:23 AM EST

how realistic is stupidity and blindly following emotions?

In some people, very realistic, but it seems to me it insults the variety of people I know to assemble a story almost completely out of that kind of character...

[ Parent ]

I enjoy all manner of horrible lit by Writer In Residence (4.00 / 2) #13 Sun Jul 08, 2012 at 09:07:50 PM EST

but that book was just too much. I think it was the plant-human hybrid people that ultimately ended it for me after about 100 pages. If I remember correctly they were some kind of noble savage type of thing, all silent and secretly wise or something. Really not a great book.

I was given that book & Mieville's others by johnny (4.00 / 1) #14 Mon Jul 09, 2012 at 05:20:34 AM EST

By his U.S. editor when Del Rey was flirting with me.

I liked the creepy world, and I thought the "dream shit" and slake moths were nifty.

But I thought, enough already. It was work to get through the book, and I thought the ending was extremely lame -- like a Saturday morning TV cartoon for 8 year olds.

I have The Scar and Iron Mountain and I think one other on my shelf. I've never been seriously tempted to read them.

Jeff Vandermeer's "Ambergris" books are in the same zip code as Mieville's. I much prefer Vandermeer.

She has effectively checked out. She's an un-person of her own making. So it falls to me.--ad hoc (in the hole)

I liked it quite a bit by MillMan

(4.00 / 1) #16 Mon Jul 09, 2012 at 01:49:47 PM EST

Genre wise it's a horror and fantasy mashup. It's not remotely sci-fi, so if you are looking for sci-fi style plausibility, you're not going to find it. And I generally agree with Aphrael's take. I think it you're not into it by now I wouldn't bother.

"Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, there are no libertarians in financial crises." -Krugman

My in-laws read it for their book club... by atreides

(4.00 / 1) #17 Mon Jul 09, 2012 at 03:12:58 PM EST

They are very literary folk, and managed to fall into the Penny Arcade camp on Mieville...

_{He sails from world to world in a flying tomb, serving gods who eat hope.}

Jesus fuck by johnny (4.00 / 1) #18 Mon Jul 09, 2012 at 10:23:43 PM EST

Will somebody ask Welsh Girl if I can have Atriedes after she's done with him?

She has effectively checked out. She's an un-person of her own making. So it falls to me.--ad hoc (in the hole)

[ Parent ]

: Alas, I am reserved for another... by atreides (4.00 / 1) #20 Tue Jul 10, 2012 at 11:18:17 AM EST

Everyone knows that I am Webwench's dupe account. :P
_{He sails from world to world in a flying tomb, serving gods who eat hope.}
[ Parent ]

Perdido Street Station | 20 comments (20 topical, 0 hidden)