Anyone else reading Kraken?

I got to chapter 4 last night. ^no story spoilers, just a little bit about expectations and language. Spoiler just in case people want to go in blind.

Aye, I didn't realise how long it was when I suggested it. I usually check these things too.

I'm enjoying it.

Mieville is an incredibly skilled writer. Even if this is one of his weakest (which is the general attitude, as i understand it) it's still got a lot to like. He does love an archaic or out there word choice, of course, and is is very playful with language; I can definitely see that being painful for a non-native speaker.

Really digging Kraken now.

Was curious if it was translated to Dutch but I don't see it. Just the Station one.
Wondering if translation would work at all for something like this. Must have some crazy language knowledge to pull it off. I remember Harry Potter being wrong in a couple areas, and for at least the first two books there was a lot of time for translation. Less so for the later ones, still remember the news articles about people standing with big spoilers painted on sheets outside of book stores when the last one was translated and released.

It's a pretty interesting subject, translation. I don't really watch anything with Dutch subtitles anymore (prefer to see and hear the English at the same time), but it was always fun pointing out errors. Remember numbers being swapped (546 to 564 or something), and B picking up on computer terms being translated wrongly.

I'm nowhere near finished either. About half way I think. I think it might be my least liked Mieville as it stands... but I'm still really enjoying it. I find his writing totally absorbing and, um, beyond my intelligence.

I can't conceive how his writing would translate into another language. It is incredibly rich and dense.

New month, new book.  For anyone who’s finished Kraken feel free to share your thoughts on it.

I have some thoughts on it, none of them good.  Mild spoilers may follow.  After finishing Mieville’s Perdido Street Station some years ago I said on here that I’d never read another one of his books.  I really mean it this time, because where there were at least elements from Perdido that I enjoyed, there is next to nothing in Kraken to recommend it.  I don’t mind the kind of absurdism Mieville employs here.  I’ve read plenty of Robert Rankin, Pratchett, Adams and Gaiman.  But a book this long and this absurd really did need to be tempered with a generous dollop of humour, and it’s mostly lacking (I did snicker early on when Collingswood pisses herself laughing when the origamist tries to explain very seriously how he does what he does).  In fact Mieville too often takes his silly narrative way too seriously.  I mean the whole thing about the familiars being on strike was fucking stupid when not played for laughs.

On to characters.  There aren’t any, are there.  Cartoon characters, sure, but there’s no depth to anyone here.  There’s no time, because Mieville is too busy ping ponging them from one silly event to the next.  The protagonist is utterly lost amid all the noisy world building and plot contrivances.  He’s a pale imitation of Arthur Dent, I suppose, suddenly exposed to a bizarre world he never knew existed, but we never get to know anything about him.  Oh, and Goss and Subby; cartoon villains of the lowest order, and about as threatening as Marvin the Martian.

Finally, the prose.  I’d just finished reading Far From the Madding Crowd when I started Kraken, and if Hardy’s work is the literary equivalent of being draped in lustrous silk, then reading Kraken is more akin to eating a meal of broken glass.  It’s all sharp edges and unpleasant going down.  That’s not to say that I don’t recognise that Mieville’s talent as a writer, but I just do not enjoy the prose style he employs here.  And what’s more, it seems every fourth line of dialogue is an incomplete sentence, and he does that across most characters, so that most of them start to sound the same.  This just wasn’t a pleasant reading experience for me at all.  It has the texture of, I don’t know, beat poetry.  And that’s fine perhaps for a novella.  But stretched across almost five hundred pages?  No thanks.

I’ll pick out one small element I liked, and it was when I thought Mieville was at his most restrained.  The character of Jason Smyle (I think) who has the talent of looking like someone you think you know.  I really enjoyed those two very short scenes and the way he wrote how people reacted to him.  They’re over too soon and then it’s back to Mieville shouting at you again about how crazy his world is.  This is definitely my last Mieville book.  Definitely definitely.

Currently at page 150-ish which I already tried to read yesterday but just put aside then. I still don't know where it's going and it's so hard to visualize what he's trying to tell.

I do like Collingswood and would like to know more about her character tbh. Will probably reserve next book at the library tomorrow, and if this one hasn't grabbed me again by then I might return it when I pick the other one up.

@Raiziel, I've seen you a couple times mention that you didn't enjoy the characters in some of the books we read. What would you say are, for you, great examples of character building? Just curious.

I thought the characters were meh

Annihilation was a good one, have to agree on that. Might need to give it a reread and focus more on the character development, I remember having a few struggles with that at times as well, but also enjoying it. Haven't read the others so put them on a list that I will never get round to as I already have a hard time keeping up with these books.

Am around the 200 page mark in Kraken. I still don't understand why I can enjoy a chapter, and then be utterly confused by the next one. Usually I get some kind of visuals in my brain while reading, but it's been a lot of blanks while reading this. Part of me is excited by it, because I've never read something like it before, which gives the feeling of the story going anywhere and taking unexpected turns. Other part is just confused, and wondering if really everything had to be pulled into this world.

Placed a hold on Children of Blood and Bone, will be at least a week before I can pick it up I assume.

Placed a hold on Piranesi but there are 7 other people that have it on hold before me, so depends on how quickly people read and if they will return books. Don't think they currently charge you anything if you're late.

Also placed a hold on Leave the World Behind, as I'm curious, but with 124 people having it on hold and 32 copies between all libraries this could take a while.

About 100 pages to go in Kraken.

I’m not well read in high fantasy, but if you don’t mind some proper adult fantasy that’s partially set in this world then I can wholeheartedly recommend Imajica by Clive Barker.

Raiziel wrote:

I’m not well read in high fantasy, but if you don’t mind some proper adult fantasy that’s partially set in this world then I can wholeheartedly recommend Imajica by Clive Barker.

Reckon I have read that one in the past. I'm a fan of the old Barker I am. His ability to describe the indescribable is almost unmatched.

Not sure I've read the full series though. I'll go back to it

Alright I'll check it out. I've heard of her but I don't think I've ever read any

New month, new book.  If you read last months book let’s hear about it.