I struggled to get used to the language – the “idiosyncratic” writing – and become interested in the story per se. It took two thirds of the book to get me excited and wanting, desperately, to know more about the cities and Inspector Borlu. But I did and I did, and finally it came in one sitting; the ending.
This is a crime story like no other. The obstacles placed in the way of the detective seemed insurmountable, while his brilliant instincts were leading him toward the right direction.
It was extraordinary, the way the people in his life – not quite trusting him – wanted to help him; even though he didn’t always include them – nor the reader – in his plans and speculations. A great character but; but, he was way beyond your average detective and, often, I felt that “intuition” of his was the deus ex machina of the story.Whenever they stumbled for leads, the detective came up with an idea of how to proceed without the reader ever being privy to his line of thinking. It could be argued that there was a logic and the reader was just left out of it completely. Best phrase: “Schroedinger’s pedestrian”.
All in all, I would love some halves in the stars I can put on books!
This is a crime story like no other. The obstacles placed in the way of the detective seemed insurmountable, while his brilliant instincts were leading him toward the right direction.
It was extraordinary, the way the people in his life – not quite trusting him – wanted to help him; even though he didn’t always include them – nor the reader – in his plans and speculations. A great character but; but, he was way beyond your average detective and, often, I felt that “intuition” of his was the deus ex machina of the story.Whenever they stumbled for leads, the detective came up with an idea of how to proceed without the reader ever being privy to his line of thinking. It could be argued that there was a logic and the reader was just left out of it completely. Best phrase: “Schroedinger’s pedestrian”.
All in all, I would love some halves in the stars I can put on books!