Palimpsest: A Novel
Feb 2009 · Spectra
4.4star
13 reviewsreport
Ebook
384
Pages
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About this ebook
In the Cities of Coin and Spice and In the Night Garden introduced readers to the unique and intoxicating imagination of Catherynne M. Valente. Now she weaves a lyrically erotic spell of a place where the grotesque and the beautiful reside and the passport to our most secret fantasies begins with a stranger’s kiss.…
Between life and death, dreaming and waking, at the train stop beyond the end of the world is the city of Palimpsest. To get there is a miracle, a mystery, a gift, and a curse—a voyage permitted only to those who’ve always believed there’s another world than the one that meets the eye. Those fated to make the passage are marked forever by a map of that wondrous city tattooed on their flesh after a single orgasmic night. To this kingdom of ghost trains, lion-priests, living kanji, and cream-filled canals come four travelers: Oleg, a New York locksmith; the beekeeper November; Ludovico, a binder of rare books; and a young Japanese woman named Sei. They’ve each lost something important—a wife, a lover, a sister, a direction in life—and what they will find in Palimpsest is more than they could ever imagine.
Between life and death, dreaming and waking, at the train stop beyond the end of the world is the city of Palimpsest. To get there is a miracle, a mystery, a gift, and a curse—a voyage permitted only to those who’ve always believed there’s another world than the one that meets the eye. Those fated to make the passage are marked forever by a map of that wondrous city tattooed on their flesh after a single orgasmic night. To this kingdom of ghost trains, lion-priests, living kanji, and cream-filled canals come four travelers: Oleg, a New York locksmith; the beekeeper November; Ludovico, a binder of rare books; and a young Japanese woman named Sei. They’ve each lost something important—a wife, a lover, a sister, a direction in life—and what they will find in Palimpsest is more than they could ever imagine.
Ratings and reviews
4.4
13 reviews
A Google user
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December 7, 2010
I found the idea behind this book to be fascinating, but the writing to be overwrought, pretentious, hyper-literary, convoluted and painful to read. It was so incredibly much work to read with its unnecessarily twisted grammar and abuse of verbiage I dreaded picking it up again each time I went back to it.
I don't mind having to work at reading a book, (Perdido Street Station for example) but there has to be enough payoff, and this book just didn't have it.
Adam Vogel
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November 27, 2018
This book is about love and passion. Like love always is, it is confusing, dangerous, troublesome, and utterly beautiful. I assure you that you've never read a book like this.
A Google user
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A spectacular, elegant, & original fantasy novel. Valente thanks both Ekaterina Sedia and Paolo Bacigalupi in the afterword.
About the author
Catherynne M. Valente was born in the Pacific Northwest, grew up in California, and now lives in Ohio with her two dogs.
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