From the Bookshelf of Chaos Reading…

Palimpsest

Catherynne M. Valente

Start date: November 20, 2012

Finish date: December 10, 2012

Discussion: Bookshelf Nominations

Discussion leader: Ruby Tombstone Lives!

Why we're reading this: December 2012 Group Read Extravaganza!
This book and 3 others will all be discussed due to a very close gr…more
[close] December 2012 Group Read Extravaganza!
This book and 3 others will all be discussed due to a very close group poll. Bring on the Chaos!!

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Bookshelf Nominations

* Bookshelf Nominations: NUMBERS [now online]
By Ruby , Mistress of Chaos · 4 posts · 85 views

last updated Dec 03, 2017 09:15AM

* Bookshelf Nominations: IN THE TROPICS
By Ruby , Mistress of Chaos · 24 posts · 45 views

last updated Feb 19, 2014 10:16PM

showing 10 of 10 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Sep 22, 2015 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sci-fi, fantasy, 2016-shelf, fanboy-goes-squee, worldbuilding-sf

Re-Read 2/28/20:

Imagine, just for a moment, that I recaptured all of the same glory, the beautiful prose, and the lost, wonderous FEELING that I got from reading Palimpsest the second time.

Imagine that it just got better with a re-read.

Especially now that I've read all the Fairyland books, this wonderfully adult and sexual version, along with all its myriad mini-tragedies, only deepens my appreciation of this book.

Original Review:

It is a reverence, a sting of the holy, as rich and powerful and d Re-Read 2/28/20:

Imagine, just for a moment, that I recaptured all of the same glory, the beautiful prose, and the lost, wonderous FEELING that I got from reading Palimpsest the second time.

Imagine that it just got better with a re-read.

Especially now that I've read all the Fairyland books, this wonderfully adult and sexual version, along with all its myriad mini-tragedies, only deepens my appreciation of this book.

Original Review:

It is a reverence, a sting of the holy, as rich and powerful and desired as honey, and the book rolls on the tongues of paupers and kings alike, like fire, like hard cocks, like the welcoming embrace of a whole city. Indeed, this book is a love poem written by and scratched out by the city, itself, of Palimpsest, the fae kingdom of adulthood, of loss, abandonment, of scars and mutilations, of loveless sex and all the dirty waters of the world, of the ripe and blossoming heat of four who will finally make one, of the discourse of the bull and the serpent, and last, but not least, of all the maps of the universe, be they the eight-thousand door train or the touch of the third rail, be it the entire catalog of all animals, imagined or real, plastered across the soul, be it madness and the touch of the wet lady, or be it the thousand bees in the belly, this is a novel of such grand depth and squirming desire, that I am literally tongue-tied in tracing the map upon the skin.

Or, put a bit more simply, I liked this novel.

It was sadness given form, with just a hint of hope to flavor the flood of despair, of obsession and longing. It, like all of Valente's writing that I've had the immense joy of reading, has been so utterly well-read and well-crafted and so very deeply loved, never fails to amaze and shock and make me want to get on my knees and say, "I am not worthy."

There are a few technical things I'd like to say.

I've never read an author with such a confident use of semi-colons. She writes whole novels as if they were poetry. Indeed, the plot is never so easy to parse, and the very act of reading it requires nearly as much imagination as the author, just to make love to the words we read and fill it (or be filled) with a sense of completeness.

Never imagine that this is anything other than brilliant.

But then again, never imagine it is easy. This book is a lover that will show you all her dark secrets and then leave you as soon as she makes you hold her hair so that she may vomit over the side of your bed. ...more

67 likes · Like · see review

May 02, 2010 Jason rated it it was ok

Shelves: e-books, read-2010

Like many others have said, this is an unusual, well written, almost lyrical story. It started off well for me, introducing the reader to 4 pov's. It failed however to bring any real depths to these characters. I lost almost all interest in them by the time I finished this. Yes, there are similar "new weird" parts to that of China Mieville, the big difference is in the fact that his characters are easy to identify with. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 12, 2011 Gregor Xane rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2011

Excellent! The best book I've read in quite some time. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 02, 2013 Karen rated it really liked it

Shelves: scifi-fantasy

‘It's been a long time coming. It's going to be a long time gone’. This lyric sums up my experience with Palimpsist. I can’t remember the last time a read a book that actually seemed to fight for its ambiguity. I have been reading fantasy and such for many, many years and this book takes license with time and space in ways that to me are almost incomprehensible.
First, the writer is clearly a poet and applies this to the prose structure. Her world building skills are such that I found myself dre ...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Barrita rated it really liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy, speculative-fiction, fantasy, reviewed, 4-star, women-authors, barrilibros

¿Cómo lo haces, Catherynne M. Valente? ¿Cómo?

La premisa del libro es interesante de por si: Una ciudad que es transmitida sexualmente. Si, así como suena. Una vez que estás "infectado" puedes comenzar a experimentar esta ciudad en sueños. Y es una ciudad de lo más intrigante.

Aunado a esto, el lenguaje es exquisito y hermoso. Es de esos libros que al leerlos te da gusto que exista el lenguaje y la capacidad de comunicarte con otros.

Es realmente fascinante ir comprendiendo las reglas de este univ ...more

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