Book review: Arslan by M.J. Engh
Jul. 7th, 2010 08:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kilroyPrint date: 1976 (20s: 1, 50s: 1, 60s: 2, 70s: 4, 80s: 4, 90s: 3, 00s: 7)
This book was described by William Gibson as "the best science fiction you've never heard of," so of course I went and picked up a copy.
The fact of the matter is that it's barely science fiction at all; it contains two pieces of technology that are essentially possible, both of which are integral to the story but buried deep beneath the surface. Most of the book is an even split between political speculative fiction and two character studies.
It's a hard book. The titular character is a monster who rapes an underaged boy and girl on stage in front of their parents within the first 50 pages. Yet after that his evils are understated and offstage, and you see a lot of Arslan the Golden Boy-- polite, smart, funny, athletic, instantly good at everything he tries. He's the kind of man who can cheerfully espouse the philosophical reasons why every human being on the planet should die out, put a plan into action to do just that, and take its unaccountable failure with a shrug and a lopsided grin. You never quite grow to like Arslan, but the fact that you (and the people of the book) get as close as you do is very, very disturbing.
This is a book that categorically refuses climax. Someone dies, but we only find out who did it and why in an off-hand comment 100 pages later. One of the two narrators goes through a journey which we can barely understand and ends quietly defiant in exactly the opposite place we would expect. The first third of the book is like a slap in the face, but the last third is spent waiting for the author to tie things up... which she never does. The characters somehow end up relatively content, but there is no process by which this is achieved, no reason for it to happen.
Did I like it? No. But it made an impression. Reading it again would certainly lead to new discoveries and intricacies. And it would be an interesting book to talk about. I'm keeping it as a reminder to myself of the feelings it engendered and for the same reason my friend George watches Fargo over and over: "I love watching other peoples' reactions to it."
Verdict: Worth reading once, will recycle. (13/39 keepers)
Page count: 296 (8375 total)
Completed: 22 (11 female authors, 11 male authors)
Rejected: 17 (9 male authors, 8 female authors)
Next book due: 7/20
ETA: On further consideration, I'm sure I'm never going to read this book again. It's a deep book that I could certainly get more out of, but I don't think I would ever want to read it again. Verdict and statistics changed to match, but original review left intact.
This book was described by William Gibson as "the best science fiction you've never heard of," so of course I went and picked up a copy.
The fact of the matter is that it's barely science fiction at all; it contains two pieces of technology that are essentially possible, both of which are integral to the story but buried deep beneath the surface. Most of the book is an even split between political speculative fiction and two character studies.
It's a hard book. The titular character is a monster who rapes an underaged boy and girl on stage in front of their parents within the first 50 pages. Yet after that his evils are understated and offstage, and you see a lot of Arslan the Golden Boy-- polite, smart, funny, athletic, instantly good at everything he tries. He's the kind of man who can cheerfully espouse the philosophical reasons why every human being on the planet should die out, put a plan into action to do just that, and take its unaccountable failure with a shrug and a lopsided grin. You never quite grow to like Arslan, but the fact that you (and the people of the book) get as close as you do is very, very disturbing.
This is a book that categorically refuses climax. Someone dies, but we only find out who did it and why in an off-hand comment 100 pages later. One of the two narrators goes through a journey which we can barely understand and ends quietly defiant in exactly the opposite place we would expect. The first third of the book is like a slap in the face, but the last third is spent waiting for the author to tie things up... which she never does. The characters somehow end up relatively content, but there is no process by which this is achieved, no reason for it to happen.
Did I like it? No. But it made an impression. Reading it again would certainly lead to new discoveries and intricacies. And it would be an interesting book to talk about. I'm keeping it as a reminder to myself of the feelings it engendered and for the same reason my friend George watches Fargo over and over: "I love watching other peoples' reactions to it."
Verdict: Worth reading once, will recycle. (13/39 keepers)
Page count: 296 (8375 total)
Completed: 22 (11 female authors, 11 male authors)
Rejected: 17 (9 male authors, 8 female authors)
Next book due: 7/20
ETA: On further consideration, I'm sure I'm never going to read this book again. It's a deep book that I could certainly get more out of, but I don't think I would ever want to read it again. Verdict and statistics changed to match, but original review left intact.