Scan barcode
A review by meganzc
The Golden Age by Michal Ajvaz
4.0
This is not a book for everyone... If you like Borges and Calvino, it's possible that you will enjoy this book, but probably not guaranteed. If you don't like them, then you won't like Ajvaz either.
The Golden Age is at first a travelogue about a fictitious and fantastical island and then a recounting of stories within the Island's "Book." The Golden Age itself has a lot in common with the Book, similarly labyrinthine and prone to tangents.
There isn't much of a plot overall, though stories that do have plots come and go throughout. The plots don't matter much though, they tend to be cliched or absurd anyway. Somehow the whole thing holds together without a coherent plot... or coherency in general.
What kept me interested throughout was Ajvaz's insane creativity. He has a way of inventing cultures, habits, and descriptions that make you rethink assumptions, assumptions so fundamental you didn't realize they could be considered assumptions at all.
Perhaps it is just because I work in the internet world, but much of the Island and its Book remind me of an analog version of the internet. The way the book is constantly edited, appended, and rewritten reminds me of Wikipedia or any wiki for that matter. The way that the government decrees spread through whispers, hearsay, and an ever evolving game of telephone... it doesn't seem that different from the way information evolves through the media, blogs, and constant hum of social media editorialized tweets and status messages.
One of those books I can't wait to discuss but hesitate to recommend to anyone but the most open-minded readers.
The Golden Age is at first a travelogue about a fictitious and fantastical island and then a recounting of stories within the Island's "Book." The Golden Age itself has a lot in common with the Book, similarly labyrinthine and prone to tangents.
There isn't much of a plot overall, though stories that do have plots come and go throughout. The plots don't matter much though, they tend to be cliched or absurd anyway. Somehow the whole thing holds together without a coherent plot... or coherency in general.
What kept me interested throughout was Ajvaz's insane creativity. He has a way of inventing cultures, habits, and descriptions that make you rethink assumptions, assumptions so fundamental you didn't realize they could be considered assumptions at all.
Perhaps it is just because I work in the internet world, but much of the Island and its Book remind me of an analog version of the internet. The way the book is constantly edited, appended, and rewritten reminds me of Wikipedia or any wiki for that matter. The way that the government decrees spread through whispers, hearsay, and an ever evolving game of telephone... it doesn't seem that different from the way information evolves through the media, blogs, and constant hum of social media editorialized tweets and status messages.
One of those books I can't wait to discuss but hesitate to recommend to anyone but the most open-minded readers.