FM's ratings:
- Premise 6
- Prose 7
- Plot 8
- Characters 8
- Overall 7
Comments
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- but try to keep it under 3000 words!)
This
series has always been in danger of being labeled "Boring"
with it's emphasis on pedagogical philosophy. McCall Smith adds
philosophical questions like a spice to all is writing, but more so
here, with a protagonist who edits a philosophy journal as her
occupation. The first two books in the series evade the "Boring"
label with plenty of amateur sleuthing thrown in to keep the suspense
going. This one focuses more on romantic relationships and the
philosophical questions that such a topic entails. As usual with this
author, there are some very poignant moments, but the prose barely
carries the weight of the interest. The chief issue with the prose is
the prominence of a rather odd idiosyncrasy of ending a spoken
paragraph with a reiteration of a fragment of the last sentence.
"So-and-so said such-and-such. HE DID." "Such-and-such
was such-and-such. IT WAS." "Object A can be seen as Object
B. IT CAN." After 4 or 5 of these, they begin to chafe. Many
more and they become a flaw. The premise? It's a subtle interweaving
of several threads, none of which really seems to take precedence
until the end. Yes, our heroine falls in love, despite her
misgivings; so it can be seen as a love story. But the other issues
that are a little too thoroughly explored here are just as
thought-provoking, if not more so. I think that anyone who hasn't
read any of this author's works and isn't used to his style would
probably be disappointed in this one. I have to admit, it's wearing a
little thin on me, too.
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