A review by leighryks
The Metropolis Case by Matthew Gallaway

2.0

Three stories entwined around the opera Tristan und Isolde following: Lucien through late 1800’s europe, Maria through her youth in 70’s Pittsburg and 80’s NYC, and Martin who is an attorney in 2001 NYC. It seemed so promising, but I almost abandoned it halfway through. As I kept reading, I began to analyze why it was that I didn’t like it. Af first, I thought it was because I found the characters self-centered. This is told in a rotating third person narrative and each of them has a rather solitary personality. Gallaway often just describes their thoughts and emotions in long frank paragraphs rather than developing them another way and I think that lends the idea that they overly self-obsessed. Awkward dialog was avoided by not really having any. For example, it took a bit a careful reading to figure out that Maria really was truly sad about the loss her parents not just upset about the social anxiety that telling people about it caused. Though Maria and Lucien are opera singers, I was also disappointed that music did not play as large a role in the novel as the beginning chapters promised though it did reappear at the end. This is Gallaway’s first novel, so perhaps he’ll improve over time.

This also has some bizarre themes with regards to parents as well that is ultimately the reason that I kept reading. Each of the main characters has lost at least one parent and more than one character is adopted only to loose their adoptive parents as well. The overall head count is high--parents, lovers and even cats. I’m familiar with the fairytale Tristan and Isolde think of it as tragic for its romantic elements. I as far as I can tell the book is not reflecting the opera. Gallaway blunts says the Love and Death is a theme in the opera, but his story develops more along the lines of loneliness (more a personal choice for social isolation) and death. There are also some rather disturbingly dispassionate women (Martian’s ex-wife and Anna), creepy father imagery (for example Maria’s toying with her dead father’s good luck charm after casual sex with a man 30 years her senior), and

Spoiler

incest

. I’ll admit I read with the fascination of a armchair psychoanalyst because there is definitely something here and I can’t tell how much is intentional. I read through some of other reviews and noticed that most of the people who ranked it this low seem to have done it because of the homosexual love scenes. This wasn’t a problem for me. I remain much more upset by whatever is underlying the depiction of women.