Palimpsest
Catherynne M. Valente
It's always a bit distressing to
read a book where you feel, at the end, like a great premise and great
potential have gone to waste. Such is the case with Palimpsest, a novel so enamored with its own good ideas that it routinely
loses its way, as if driven by its meandering and overwrought, though
occasionally mesmerizing, prose. The use of dual tenses and fonts to represent
chapters that take place in the world we know and those in the mysterious
second kingdom to which the main characters often travel is inspired, but the
plot and settings are so often difficult to discern, particularly in the
fantastic world of Palimpsest. The reader often feels as lost and disoriented
as the characters must, and without the freedom to cast a glance around and
find one's footing the effect becomes one of frustration rather than sympathy.
Meandering sentences and half-gratifying descriptions do not do much to assist
the reader, and by the time one has adjusted to Valente's prose the book is
halfway over and the endeavor already rendered mostly futile. This is not to
say that Palmipsest lacks imagination
or that Valente shows no talent; the concept of a world accessible only through
sex is rich with the potential for metaphor, a potential that Valente often
taps throughout the novel. The glimpses the reader gets of Palimpsest are often
enchanting, Valente has achieved the seemingly impossible in writing touching,
well-crafted sex scenes throughout the book, and the plot that allows Valente
to explore the book's core themes of interconnectedness and escape is
sufficient to carry readers and characters along. But despite these successes, Palimpsest seems to be a book overly
concerned with itself, one that is a chore to read and which requires undue
efforts to unlock its most appealing secrets.
Grade: C+
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