27 - Salt Fish Girl, by Larissa Lai, 269 pages, Thomas Allen Publishers, 2002
WHY I PICKED IT: I met the author at a party a couple weeks ago
ELAPSED TIME: 3 days.
RATING: Good.
I don't think I fully understand this story, but nonetheless quite enjoyed it.
This is the story of a being who created mankind, and then chose to join it. Lai takes us through two incarnations of this female being: Nu Wa, in 1800s China, and Miranda in the mid 21st Century Pacific Northwest. Both tales are engaging. Nu Wa fights to avoid an arranged marriage, and struggles to survive in the city. Miranda lives in an age where government has collapsed and the corporate world has stepped in to create their own walled cities with their own rules.
Had this story simply been that, a play between historical fiction and science fiction, it would have been very good possibly even required reading (as Lai's voice as an author is engaging and keeps the story moving at a great pace). Unfortunately, throughout is this hard-to-follow ... fantasy (?) with subtext that I simply did not follow.
I will seek out more writing by Larissa Lai.
This blog is a simple review of every book that I read... For all books I’ll tell you why I picked it, how long it took me to read it, and give it a rating (burn it, not good, meh, good, very good, and required reading). I ask (encourage?) all readers of my blog to post their thoughts of any of the books in my comments :). Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment