Palimpsest

In essence, Palimpsest is a book reading a bit like poetry about a mythical sexually-transmitted city (yeah, you read it right!), and how four ordinary strangers happen upon, and are therefore affected by, it. Or, well, technically, how it happens upon them. You see, everyone who gains access to Palimpsest has tattooed, in some part of their body,  a map representing an area of the city they can visit without help. To visit other areas, however, one must have sex with people who have the place one wishes to mapped on  their skin. It doesn't help matters that the city is incredibly addicting, often being described as more real than the waking world, and far more beautiful. Thus, the city often indirectly (and its citizens often directly) wrecks the lives of all those who find it.

If you have a love for poetry, it is almost guaranteed you will love this  book. Catherynne M. Valente really knows how to describe, how to use unexpected turns of phrase to grab attention, and bring feelings and images into perfect being. The book is basically littered with wonderful descriptions not only of environments, but of actions, of thoughts. And, joyfully, it never feels pretentious. Everything rings with a certain honesty, as if the words read were as natural and true as breathing. It reads beautifully, but be forewarned, sometimes that does not mean easily, thought I am honestly not sure what it is that sometimes makes this heavy-going.

Perhaps (and I am going out on a limb here) it is the more...uh, literary? Quality of the writing. Not talking about general quality, but more like... about expectations. What I mean is that, for the most part I think this book doesn't read like most fantasy books read. Then there is the general way in which the book progresses. Usually it starts with the character being in the real(?) world, up until he/she has sex, at which time we are presented with a relatively lengthy description of the part of the city he or she is about to visit. And only then do the characters actually arrive. The problems is not with the way these 'interludes' are written, because they are rather well written, but with the interruption to the flow of the narrative we were just following. Or at least thats the way I see it. 

Sadly, for all the excellence to be found in the prose, and besides the little thing which I have just described, the execution of the plot also leaves a bit to be desired. As the ending of the book nears, it seems like everything imperceptibly starts rushing towards it. There are many things I fully expected to be wrapped up that simply weren't ever mentioned again. The last part (Young-eyed cherubims) in its entirety was for me somewhat of a disappointment in regards to plot-resolution. Still, this being mostly character-driven from the start made this particular failing somewhat more tolerable.

Because the characterization really is a joy. Minor and major characters alike leap out of the page as you read them. Not a single one ever appears flat. Of course, that does not mean all their stories are equally interesting, but in my experience they all end up engaging.  In my case, it was November who charmed me, probably from the moment I read her name, and not only because thats the month I was born in. I had never heard of someone called that before, either in reality or fiction, and it wooed me. But more than that, it was the way her character and name complemented each other so perfectly.

So, yeah. This was a wonderful book. Try it. Stick with it for a while even if at first you struggle. I know am glad I did.