The City and the City

[bonny_kate]

So, I just finished The City and the City in two days (not that impressive, if you consider I'm the sort to stay up past the witching hour reading Garth Nix, which means I generally only read him on vacation). I wouldn't read it again, because of the swearing, which is way too much for my sensibilities to read it again (also it meant I tended to skim more). This is really sad, because it is a fascinating book, telling of two cities (Beszel and Ul Quoma), which exist side by side, in complicated and fascinating ways (there are some places where both cities exist, with different buildings or such, some where only one exists, some where neither exist, and some places where both cities exist in the same way), and the inhabitants of either city must keep from breaching - contacting or directly relating or stepping into the other city, except by going through customs. It's more like two countries which occupy a similar spot in space and time, but can't be directly looked at or interacted with. Mieville also throws in a good dose of politics, of the way in which these cities/countries interact with the rest of our world (because it is our world), and with each other. And it's a detective novel in the best sense of the word, with a believable protagonist, Inspector Tyador, who really wants justice for a woman found dead in his city, Beszel, but ends up finding out more and more complicated things about both cities and the Breach. If you don't mind the language, I would recommend it.

Comments

[reading-angel.livejournal.com]

Ah! I'm sorry! I recall noting the language now that you've mentioned it but I tend to self-edit that sort of thing out of my memories and honestly wasn't thinking about it when I recommended it or I would have warned you.

[bonny-kathryn.livejournal.com]

It's more than I would usually be ok with in a book, but no worse than what I hear at work.