I've been reading S. and have about 50ish pages to go. I've enjoyed it so far and I find it to be a pretty interesting concept. I have never read The House of Leaves, which someone mentioned elsewhere, so I can't give a comparison, but I have a feeling that they are very different types of novels. Within the spoiler tags is a brief rundown of how the book is structured.
Spoiler!
There are basically 4 conversation strings represented by different colors - blue/black, green/orange, red/purple, and black/black (there is also a light gray, like pencil, which is one of the characters early research notes). Each represents a different point within the timeline of the story, but are found throughout the book. Once you figure out what part of the conversation comes before the other it's easy to follow the conversation. And the story within the story is pretty interesting as well. Actually I would say there are 3 stories happening - the one between the two main characters, the story of the author, and the book written by said author, The Ship of Theseus.
I would define this as a mystery/thriller novel about a mysterious author of unknown origins, who the two main characters are trying to identify. The conversation in the margins and all the inserted items acting as the bulk of the main story line, and the The Ship of Theseus provides the reader insight into the author and the characters actual ideas and research, instead of only getting snippets of the book, which are generally meant to drive the story forward.
Finished Against All Things Ending. The best Thomas Covenant book yet. The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is best of the of three series. Am starting the final TC book, The Last Dark. Will it be better than AATE? I hope so!
I recently read "Dark Magic" and "Shadow People" by James Swain. Or rather, I was dissecting them, which was the only way I could get through them. I just didn't like them - cardboard characters, cliches galore, and a horribly simplistic "good versus evil" thing going on. And the ending of the second book was just a blatant set-up for a third, but I'm not touching it.
I'm reading "The Night Circus". I'm not sure how I feel about it so far... the writing is good, but the author intentionally doesn't explain things. I'm hoping it all comes together soon.
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosely: I had seen the Denzel Washington movie a few months prior to picking this up (mostly because I'm a huge Don Cheadle fan), so I knew what I was getting into plot-wise. What I had forgotten about from a previous experience with Mosely's work is his ability to create characters and atmosphere. Though the plot was nothing to write home about, I thoroughly enjoyed the origin of Easy Rawlins as a PI. I will definitely be picking up further books in the series. Though not part of the Easy Rawlins series, I also recommend The Man in My Basement by Mosely.
Good luck with that one. I never made it past page 123 (though I do plan on attempting it again. maybe in 2014.)
Ha, yeah, thanks. The pre-op transexual scene near the beginning was pretty gross, but I soldiered forth. Though I do wonder what sick things this book has in store for me. I am beginning to get into the writing style, once I pick it up it is hard to put back down. If not this book, what is a good Ed Lee to start with?
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