The Rosetta Codex
Mar. 19th, 2006 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bookzombieUsually I rather like Richard Paul Russo's books. I enjoyed his 'Carlucci' SF detective novels and I adored the Alienesque Ship of Fools (or Unto Leviathan if you have the UK edition).
I was less impressed with Subterranean Gallery, which seemed to be part of a rash of 'Poor struggling artist' sf going on at the time. Mind you, it won the Philip K. Dick award so what do I know?!
His latest, The Rosetta Codex is a very odd duck indeed. The primary reaction I had from it was that it felt like extracts from a much longer novel. Apart from in the final section there is a 'time break' between almost every chapter. By this I mean most chapters start 'Several weeks passed', or 'The following spring' or 'Five years later'.
This gives a weird sort of 'narrative stroboscope' effect, the upshot of which it becomes very difficult to really feel engaged. I finished it, but it leaves no real impression beyond a puzzled frown on the face.
One of the oddest books I've read for some time...
I was less impressed with Subterranean Gallery, which seemed to be part of a rash of 'Poor struggling artist' sf going on at the time. Mind you, it won the Philip K. Dick award so what do I know?!
His latest, The Rosetta Codex is a very odd duck indeed. The primary reaction I had from it was that it felt like extracts from a much longer novel. Apart from in the final section there is a 'time break' between almost every chapter. By this I mean most chapters start 'Several weeks passed', or 'The following spring' or 'Five years later'.
This gives a weird sort of 'narrative stroboscope' effect, the upshot of which it becomes very difficult to really feel engaged. I finished it, but it leaves no real impression beyond a puzzled frown on the face.
One of the oddest books I've read for some time...
