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A review by inkdeathinbloom
Vellum by Hal Duncan
5.0
There's something to be said for unique craftsmanship and mindf*@!ery. I think I have to call it and just admit I'm a fan. This is one of those books that was either going to get one star or all of them: there is no middle ground.
Reasons for one star: this book could only be read in, perhaps, ten page segments. You had to be awake, caffeinated, and cognitively and referentially on point. It helped if you had an academic knowledge of Sumerian, Greek and biblical myth, 20th century history, and narrative theory; and for some of those passages, you needed to know linguistic terms, social theory, and have an ability to parse tech speak. Not to mention a whole bunch of other random stuff that would show up in one passage, and then, never again- and if you didn't get it, good luck. Also, a dictionary is sometimes helpful. Furthermore, there kind of wasn't one narrative, or, kind of, one character. Every three pages it was something different. From page to page, more or less, there was no continuity. You had to balance about one hundred threads at once, and some of them were really tiny threads. Also, there's no clear plot. So if you like reading a book where you follow a character, a plot, a chain of events or an idea through a coherent story, this book is not for you. That takes an adjustment.
Reasons for five stars: this was, in my opinion, a singular piece of work. It utilized a structure that did beautiful things with ideas of plurality and archetype, and I think, of reincarnation and multiplicity. It's also about the ties that bind in the elaborate sense that different people across many times and places will all make the same mistakes; will love, and fight; will suffer. The writing was intense- dense and wild, the kind that blows your mind and makes you re-read the sentence three times to fully absorb the message, the meaning, the punch of it. Also: if you're a nerd who happens to like mythology, techspeak, history, and the challenge of a crazy vocabulary-- and also, perhaps, just a challenge in your reading, well, that makes it pretty awesome. There's so much more this book does that can't be captured, but Duncan does a fascinating and wonderful job with capturing the ineffable completely inexplicably.
The process of reading the book was equal parts frustration trying to get through it, and incredulity at what I was reading. I figured I wouldn't know until the end if it had managed to drive me batty and throw it across the room, or blow my mind, thoroughly impress me and make me place it proudly back on my bookshelf. In the end, it won. I'm on to the second book- which I'm given to understand is really just the second half of this one story. So yeah, if you think you can bear the creative narrative structures, this gets a stunning recommendation.
Reasons for one star: this book could only be read in, perhaps, ten page segments. You had to be awake, caffeinated, and cognitively and referentially on point. It helped if you had an academic knowledge of Sumerian, Greek and biblical myth, 20th century history, and narrative theory; and for some of those passages, you needed to know linguistic terms, social theory, and have an ability to parse tech speak. Not to mention a whole bunch of other random stuff that would show up in one passage, and then, never again- and if you didn't get it, good luck. Also, a dictionary is sometimes helpful. Furthermore, there kind of wasn't one narrative, or, kind of, one character. Every three pages it was something different. From page to page, more or less, there was no continuity. You had to balance about one hundred threads at once, and some of them were really tiny threads. Also, there's no clear plot. So if you like reading a book where you follow a character, a plot, a chain of events or an idea through a coherent story, this book is not for you. That takes an adjustment.
Reasons for five stars: this was, in my opinion, a singular piece of work. It utilized a structure that did beautiful things with ideas of plurality and archetype, and I think, of reincarnation and multiplicity. It's also about the ties that bind in the elaborate sense that different people across many times and places will all make the same mistakes; will love, and fight; will suffer. The writing was intense- dense and wild, the kind that blows your mind and makes you re-read the sentence three times to fully absorb the message, the meaning, the punch of it. Also: if you're a nerd who happens to like mythology, techspeak, history, and the challenge of a crazy vocabulary-- and also, perhaps, just a challenge in your reading, well, that makes it pretty awesome. There's so much more this book does that can't be captured, but Duncan does a fascinating and wonderful job with capturing the ineffable completely inexplicably.
The process of reading the book was equal parts frustration trying to get through it, and incredulity at what I was reading. I figured I wouldn't know until the end if it had managed to drive me batty and throw it across the room, or blow my mind, thoroughly impress me and make me place it proudly back on my bookshelf. In the end, it won. I'm on to the second book- which I'm given to understand is really just the second half of this one story. So yeah, if you think you can bear the creative narrative structures, this gets a stunning recommendation.