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Loading... Palimpsestby Catherynne Valente
Completing this novel, I wasn't entirely sure what to think of it. I love Valente's prose in this novel, which was lyrical and dream-like, capturing themes of loneliness and brokenness into a lyrical and tangible form. The premise and the set-up of Palimpsest was very interesting and quite unique but I never quite connected or truly sympathised with the characters. I look forward to reading her other works soon enough! =) (  ) caffeinatedlife | Apr 26, 2013 |  Wonderful fantasy imagnation butno story to speak of. Not as good as In the Night Garden (  ) SChant | Apr 26, 2013 | This book is beautiful. The language of it is mesmerising and enticing and sometimes cloying, there's so much of it, it's so thick with description and invention and ideas. I remember commenting about China Miéville's work, and how the cities of his work almost seem to be characters themselves -- I can see why people compare Palimpsest to his work, although in Palimpsest it's more true than ever. Reading this book is like exploring the city in the same limited way as the characters. Sometimes frustratingly: there's a bit you want to see or understand or get to, but you can't, not yet. You have to give it time for it to unfold. I can understand why it has quite a lot of love-or-hate reactions. If you give it time, it's a beguiling, rewarding book, but if you don't have the time or the patience or the inclination, it's impenetrable. I didn't really feel like I got to know the characters or the city as well as I would want to. Ordinarily, that would be a major turn-off for me, but there was enough to keep me satisfied, and the writing, the richness of the detail, was enough to compensate for the lack of my usual favourites. If there's any criticism, it's that the characters didn't feel as rich and as real to me as I wanted them to -- there were enchanting details about them, but I didn't get to know them as I would like to. (  ) shanaqui | Apr 9, 2013 | Had some really beautiful language, but ultimately not my cup of tea ( ) lauren.castan | Apr 3, 2013 | Made for a marvelous summer fever dream, but summer is over, and I'm not done and have lost my place in what was going on. Maybe next summer.. ( ) joeyreads | Apr 2, 2013 |
 You need a passport to enter the improbable city Palimpsest and its magical mindscapes: a map of the city tattooed in black ink somewhere on your body. But to receive the mark, first you must have sex with someone who already bears one. ... Too obsessive and self-involved to hold universal appeal, with characters resembling visitors from somebody else's recurring dreamscape.
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"Between life and death, dreaming and waking, at the train stop beyond the end of the world is the city of Palimpsest. To get there is a miracle, a mystery, a gift, and a curse -- a voyage permitted only to those who've always believed there's another world than the one that meets the eye. Those fated to make the passage are marked forever by a map of that wondrous city tattooed on their flesh after a single orgasmic night." To this erotic and fantastic kingdom come Oleg, a New York locksmith; a beekeper, November; Ludovico, a binder of rare books; and a Japanese woman named Sei, each of whom has lost something important in their lives. -- Publisher info.… (more)
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