China Mieville, The city and the city

[cyphomandra]

When catching up on book posts I do tend to start off with the books that worked less well for me, and save the really good ones until I have the time to do them justice. The disadvantage of that is never getting around to posting, and, for example, finding that I still haven't written up Morris Gleitzman's really excellent book Then from 2008 (brief summary: brilliant, heart-crushing children's book about WWII; technically a sequel to Once, but can be read without it and is I think better that way).

So, this time I'm trying to alternate. First of a loose group of books that I really enjoyed - I'd recommend them all, although I would also be prepared to critique them.

I loved Perdido Street Station, stalled on The Scar and hated Un Lun Dun, so was a bit iffy about picking this up at all. I'm glad I did.

The body of a murdered woman is found by a skateboard park in the city of Besźel, somewhere in the less fashionable parts of Europe. Inspector Tyador Borlú investigates, but the woman turns out to be an American, studying, and she is not from Besźel but from Ul Qoma - a city which intersects with Besźel, but which can only be acknowledged (by either side) under very rigid circumstances, for fear of activating a powerful mysterious form of enforcement known as Breach.

The double city - cross-hatched where the two interface - is very nicely done, likewise the way the various inhabitants have adapted. There are websites and factions and graffiti, and a border zone at the only point of official entry, and it's all solid and established; it feels just as workable as any non fictional city with equally arbitrary divisions. The working through of the case is good, and I like Borlú.

The worldbuilding is what makes this book. What doesn't happen, though, is one of those twisting vertiginous moments where the book forces you to see things differently - as in Mary Gentle's Ash, or Jan Morris's Last letters from Hav, two books this story ended up reminding me strongly of. Part of this is that the plot relies at a certain point on debunking similar expectations. Another part, tho', is that once Borlú enters Breach the story doesn't change enough. Earlier, Breach has been talked about as something that is invoked, and when Borlú sees people (who I assume are Breach) he cannot tell which city they are in, but thinks no further of it. Yet when he's Breach, he can act independently (almost), and is still able to carry out his investigation, talking to citizens who appear to recognize his authority.

Quibbles aside, it's a great concept, and for the most part dealt with extremely well. I do feel that the ending lacks something, but I can't identify it further.

Comments

[cyphomandra.livejournal.com]

Hmm. The city it's set in is amazing, and there are some incredible ideas, but I'm not sure the characters are exactly what you're looking for (I really like Lin, who is a woman with the head of a beetle). Maybe give it a go - the good thing about it is that the first five chapters is a pretty accurate preview of the rest of the book!