Fifteen years ago, while sitting in the cafe at the Michigan State University library, I noticed the spine of a book right next to me. The author’s name, in white, I’d never seen before. The title was in an orange gradient: "Perdido Street Station."
I was intrigued simply because I speak Spanish and I love orange. The author’s name was interesting, too: China Mieville. It’s funny what might spur you to check out a book, right? I pulled it from the shelf and read the praise on the back cover. It was effusively positive, so I read the story description on the flaps of the front and back covers. Holy shit. I had to read this book.
I did. It was amazing.
Now, I’m reading it again. I’m on page 623, a little fewer than 100 pages from the end. It’s a big book. A tome. But I swear that I could indefinitely inhabit the world he’s created. A friend of mine from high school (and a supporter of my book, Disintegration) gave me his copy of another Mieville book, "The Scar," which might even be better than "Perdido." They are at least equally good. I’m going to read it again, too. Then I’m going to read "Iron Council," the third book in his Bas-Lag series.
I’m telling you all of this because, in reading "Perdido" for the second time, I’m reminded of how a richly developed world and fully realized characters can provide a great, engrossing escape. I may not be telling you anything you don’t know, of course, but I feel compelled to say it because I encounter a lot of media that falls flat for me. In my re-read of "Perdido" I’ve found a few copy errors, and there are times where he uses words he didn’t need to use, and often uses them again and again but, though a little off-putting, it doesn’t detract *at all* from the superlative quality of his amazing story.
I understand that a lot of people worry about word count and shoehorning a story into an "acceptable" amount of space, but there is something to be said for a story that takes up as much space as it does and still manages to grab you, keep your attention, and nag at your memory after you’ve put it down. Have you ever seen the Director’s Cut of "Aliens" ... way better. Have you ever read the unabridged version of "Stranger in a Strange Land"? Sure, letting a creative run amok might not always lead to great results, but I doubt that hemming them in does, either.
If you’ve never read China Mieville, check him out. It’s well worth it.
And if you’ve not ordered a copy of Disintegration, please do. It, too, will grab you, engross you, challenge normalcy, and nag at your memory.
Good thing there will be three other books to follow it. ;)
