I tried to read Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, on the grounds that (1) it is a science fiction classic, widely loved and lauded, and (2) A. recommended it to me so strongly that he lent me his copy.
Blah. The book began in the present and then jumped back in time to the beginning of the lifetime of events that led to the present happenings. I kept reading in the hopes that we were working towards the present, but it... took... so... long... that I gave up. The book is divided (I think?) into thirds; in each third, we are shown one character's point of view. I didn't like the characters, their points of view were frustrating because they mentioned fascinating things, then ignored them in favor of their own dull interests.
And that is all I have to write about that. It's another book off my "to read" list.
This post's theme word: chelonian, "turtle-like." As in, "The plot progressed in a chelonian fashion."
2 comments:
Sigh. I have read the entire Mars Trilogy. It took me a couple of re-starts to get through Red Mars. Once you do, it is a great investment. It does get pretty interesting with the discussion of inventing new mythologies (in a vacuum of them, i.e. on a new planet). The Big Man v. Paul Bunyan stuff is pretty Golden. But it is kind of poorly written. Good ideas, bad writing. Green Mars is probably my favourite.
Fair enough, Dustin. There are SO many books out there to read, though, that I don't think I'll give this a second chance unless I get a really REALLY amazing review ("this book changed my life") from someone I respect.
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