China Mieville The Scar (Book Club)

[dwndrgn]

I still have not been able to procure a copy of the book but by all means feel free to begin the discussion whenever you wish. I'll jump in as soon as I can.

 

[polymorphikos]

Just to get the ball rolling, I'll go first.

I haven't actually finished this book, but I would like to comment on the style that mieville displays. In short, the way he suddenly refers to things no-one has any clue about, evoking images of wonder and beauty. Casual references to Witchocracies and Mosquito-men and the seemingly-endless detail of his worlds and almost random conjuring of bizzare creatures. It's very well-realised and I'll definitely finish it, which - considering my current trend of drifting between five books and only finishing one - is quite a thing.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Yes, Mieville's wild world building is one of the things that really hooked me, even if there are times when it seems out of hand.


WHat do you think of the characters so far? I'm afraid I can remember only one name, that of Bellis Coldwine, but I will refresh my memory over the weekend. She's been descirbed as a dauntingly unsympathetic protagonist, but I personally disagree. Despite her lack of human warmth in many ways, I find her an interesting person and a worthy guide through the hinterlands of Bas-Lag and its oceans.

Have you arrived at Armada yet?

 

[polymorphikos]

Currently in the restaurant with Bellis and Carriane, after her tiff with Tearfly. I like the fact that the city is flooded with monkeys and there are vampires.

As for characters, I don't know any of them well enough yet, but Bellis does seem quite cold. However, the aloof fugitive from a torrid/tawdry/tormented past is a mainstay of pop-fiction, and so you can't go a long way without liking them. look at Sam Spade, a callous, ruthless *******, but one of the most memorable characters I've yet come across.

 

[littlemissattitude]

I really like this book...but it is frustrating the crap out of me. Seems like I have to stop and think about what I've read every couple of pages; I have to process it in little bits at a time or it becomes overwhelming.

CAUTION...POSSIBLE SPOLIERS BELOW, even though I'm trying to keep it general. As long as you're past page 262, you can go ahead and read; otherwise, proceed at your own risk.
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So, I'm on page 262, which means that Doul has just explained the Lovers' scars to Bellis. Now, that's something that reminded me a lot of something I might find in a Clive Barker novel - not a bad thing, but quite disturbing in a number of different ways.

I do have to say that I'm having a bit of a different reaction than some of you seem to be having to Bellis. She has her own point of view, to be sure, but I'm not finding her unsympathetic so far. Maybe it's the loner in me (huge streak of that in my psychological makeup; probably has to do with being an only child), but I've been identifying with her quite a bit.

I also quite like Tanner Sack, so far. Interesting choices he's made; his character almost reminds me of someone who has decided to have gender reassignment surgery. Not an exact comparison, I know, but that's what came to mind when I read that section. He was hesitant, yet he knew that was the right thing for him to do. (Remains to be seen if he continues in his satisfaction with his change.) I saw the same kind of feelings in someone I knew who was in the early stages of working towards a gender reassignment, which I suppose is why this comparison occurred to me.

And a comment about Mieville's descriptions: They're beautiful, fully realized, almost virtuoso in nature. But sometimes I just want to tell him enough, already, I want to know what the characters are doing.

 

[rune]

I remember when i first read this book, the first by this author, I was overwhelmed by his visual descriptions I couldnt even visualise some of his characters they were so different from anything I had read before. Talk about different!

I did think this was a slow book to get into, but once I did it was a real page turner. I remember feeling resentful of the fact I had to do other things in life

I really enjoyed the relationship between Doul and the vampires. In fact I would love to see Mieville write about their history and how they met etc. They, for me, were the most interesting characters in this book.

I quite liked Bellis, but she wasn't the most intriquing of the characters, I think in some ways she was used to highlight the others and keep them partly shrouded in mystery

The Lovers I think were a sick pair, but I couldnt help me fascinated in what they got up to. Morbid curiosity

I have Perdido Street Station waiting to be read, and in some ways feel disappointed that the Iron Council doesnt continue with the same characters as the Scar. I havent got the book but from what I have read about the series, these books seem to be more stand alone, but referring to the same world.

I would so like to revisit the lives of some of the characters in The Scar. Especially Doul

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Actually, much like lma, I also identified with Bellis for similar reasons.

 

[Princess Ivy]

To be honest, i'm not very impressed. I've finished it, in my usual compulsive way. But found it a bit of a slog. Although I found it well written and the descriptions lovely (very rare nowadays to find someone who takes enough time to bother), i felt that the book was far to long. He seemed to have so much to put in, but not very much relevant to the story. The characters were very two dimensional and there was not enough interaction between them. Also the motivations very unclear. The more interesting characters were marginalised. I was terribly disapointed. I must however say that i enjoyed his use of otherworldly beings and religions without the need for explanation. That is one of my main gripes with sci-fi, this need to have everything explained to you. the story should be enough explanation, but so often there is this one character who comes out and tells you what is going on, duh!

 

[littlemissattitude]

I have to say that I haven't found that much (so far) that has felt to me to be irrelevant to the story. But I also have to say that sometimes, if it is done well - as it is here - it is enough for me for a book to be the realization of a world, almost as if it is a documentary of an imaginary world. I think there is a bit of that in "The Scar", but I'm also enjoying the characters, even though there are times when I'd like to know more about them. That happens in almost every book I read (I always want to know everything, which is impossible, of course ), so it doesn't seem that different or bothersome to me here.

 

[Princess Ivy]

i always like to make friends with the characters, in this case i have just found not enough about them, nor their motivations, to feel close to them, nor even particularly care about their respective fates. i often felt that he was being longwinded and verbose, just for the sake of filling a page. but there you go. personal opinion.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Personal take: Mieville's characters tend to be alienated in some fundamental way that is perhaps different from the sort of characters in a lot of fantasy, but something I can dentify with more realistically because I think it's something very common to human experience right now.


The concept of The Scar istself was mind blowing. A physical rip in the fabric of reality. You'll notice that much of this book is a quest for the scar, which is ultimately thwarted. Why do you think this is?

 

[Princess Ivy]

Ah, but is it? that is the true question. I mean, with the re-apearance of the cactus man, obviously from another posible outcome, and Douls seeking out of Armada. On his own. No reasoning in his motive, and allowing the release of the ship from its quest at the last min, his taking Bellis into his confidence and allowing her access to the lovers. His seeming precongnitive knowledge of the futur, in his set up of her and Tanner. I sort of got the impression that this journey has been made countless times before, and after, with all probabilities meeting at the actual juncture of the phusical scar, and that this story, is simply the best probability, as decided by Doul, and therefore allowed to be released from the mine.

Sorry if that doesn't make sense. its an immense concept to try to grasp. I think I understand what I mean (although that is not ness the point meiville was trying to make), but find it difficult to crystalise the ideas.

 

[Brys]

Personal take: Mieville's characters tend to be alienated in some fundamental way that is perhaps different from the sort of characters in a lot of fantasy, but something I can dentify with more realistically because I think it's something very common to human experience right now.


The concept of The Scar istself was mind blowing. A physical rip in the fabric of reality. You'll notice that much of this book is a quest for the scar, which is ultimately thwarted. Why do you think this is?

I agree with you on that. I hope you notice the irony that while the Scar is all about the quest for the scar, and it fails, while Iron Council is about the Remade trying to escape and survive, yet come across the scar far more than in the actual novel.

While I really enjoyed the Scar, and I feel that it's perhaps the most tightly written of Mieville's narratives, I preferred Perdido Street Station - for the sheer imagination, the atmosphere and over the top prose - not that it was exactly lacking in the Scar. I loved the whole idea of possibility mining, and the issue with the blimp etc..