But this brings to mind the quirks of the online format of a “book-club” of this nature: the fact that we “meet”, so to speak, weekly to discuss each quarter of the book instead of once a month to discuss the entire book in one session. It wouldn’t be practical to do this in a face-to-face meeting in someone’s living room; you would have to host four times as often and bring the refreshments four times as often, and much more of the content of the book would simply get skipped. By the time you finish a book, you no longer care much what happened back on page 97. That said, if the second or third quarter (or, in this case, both) of the book is a yawner, then the “meeting” that week can’t be salvaged by Betty’s Toffee Cinnamon Brownies.
Also, it opens things up for a lot more negative commentary. Speaking of which… Last time I groused about the use – and especially the overuse – of the word “arse.” Now the cutesy gutter slang of choice has become “shite.” “Luke felt like a sack of shite.” The author doesn’t wish to sound like trailer trash, so she substitutes these endearing words for their earthier counterparts. Somebody – her editor, maybe? – should tell her it’s not working; in fact it’s only making things worse, making her look silly. The teen slang doesn’t add much either: “She felt for the poor woman.” Felt what? Sorry? Remorse? Disgust? If it’s worth bringing up, it’s worth telling us what she felt. My impression could be wrong, but this seems to indicate a writer who’s not well-read.
The secondary characters, on the other hand, are all complex
and interesting. Alistair’s carrying the
torch for his best friend’s wife is actually depicted with sensitivity, and he
doesn’t come across as ridiculous. Mrs.
Bird manages to be something more than the stereotypical housemaid in
charge. Evelyn Stone, the W.O.R. doctor
that patches up everyone else has an interesting personality. And the mysterious Rani Ogitani is intriguing
despite the fact that we only actually meet her very briefly at a social
event. There are certainly some nicely
developed story-telling skills on display here; all the more reason that the
unfortunate prose idiosyncrasies detract.
The setting – our Steampunk society – hasn’t been forgotten,
but has been pushed perhaps a little too deeply into the background. The occasional reference to modes of travel,
the mechanical, as opposed to electrical, contraptions such as the I.D. checker
at the sanitorium, and, above all, the consistent references to the
anachronistic clothing styles, all help to keep the setting fresh, but they’re
little at odds with the soap opera play-by-play of the story-line. Here’s hoping the climax (an unfortunate
choice of word for such a blatant romance?) incorporates more thematically
Steampunk aspects.
April's books of the month...
That’s right – BOOKS!
April's books of the month...
That’s right – BOOKS!
The format
for the club has changed – in the past, one book each month was divided into
four roughly equal sections with one section commented on each week.
Starting
in April, each week will feature a
different book, and you pick which one(s) you would like to read
with us! This will include a rating
system for various aspects of each book with an optional section for comments.
April is
still “Dean Koontz” month, so one of his will be included in the four. Each weekend (usually starting on Friday) is posting time. Here’s the April line-up:
“The City,”
by Dean Koontz
“Midnight Crossroad,”
by Charlaine Harris
“Vineland,”
by Thomas Pynchon
“Specters,”
by J. M. Dillard
(As always, if there are any
books you’d like to recommend for the next month, please do so!)
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