Jayaprakash Satyamurthy
Knivesout no more
Sorry, this is recycled from my blog, but I really liked this book and wanted to share my views on it in greater detail:
I've been hearing all sorts of good things about Jeff VanderMeer's Veniss Underground, and now that I've read it I can tell you they're all true.
Perhaps the nicest thing about the book is it's brevity, for a book that broadly falls into the fantasy genre. At just about 200 pages, it's an elegant, economically written tale that sparkles with ideas, images and yes, even, erudition. There are various literary and mythical references, but it doesn't really hurt if you miss a lot of them. The story is strong enough on it's own.
The core story is that most hackneyed of genre devices - the quest. It traces one Shadrach's descent into the underworld to rescue his beloved, and then (literally) into the belly of the beast to avenge the wrongs that were visited upon her.
That's as far as the cliché goes, though. The setting, to begin with, is not some mediaevalist middle earth analog - it's a grim, intricately nightmarish far-future. The dark underworld is populated with ghastly creatures - all of which are the creations of Quin, an insane, brilliant genetic artist. Shadrach's beloved, Nicola, no longer returns his love. Quin himself is not unambiguously evil - he is cruel, sadistic and supremely twisted in a manner that Salvador Dali would have applauded, but it is hard to tell if his basic motivation - to replace the human race with something new - can be described as intrinsically evil.
The story is superbly constructed - it is divided into three sections, each longer than the previous one. First, we hear from Nicholas, second-rate struggling artist and Nicola's twin, in the first-person. Then we meet Nicola herself, in an unusual and unusually succesful second-person narrative. Finally, Shadrach, yes, the third person and in third-person.
It may all seem very clever-clever, but it in fact works quite seamlessly.
The book is quite nerve- wracking at times - certain scenes are not for the weak of stomach - and yet, capable of oddly whimsical invention at others. There are scenes of utter horror and moments of total brutality (Shadrach discovers that Nicola has been captured by Quin when he visits an elderly client of Quin who is wearing Nicola's transplanted eye and hand). And yet, the prose is so smooth and compelling, you have to read it all.
In fact, this was the first book in a long time that I stayed up all night to finish. It was also my biggest lit-kick since Eco's Baudolino.
I've been hearing all sorts of good things about Jeff VanderMeer's Veniss Underground, and now that I've read it I can tell you they're all true.
Perhaps the nicest thing about the book is it's brevity, for a book that broadly falls into the fantasy genre. At just about 200 pages, it's an elegant, economically written tale that sparkles with ideas, images and yes, even, erudition. There are various literary and mythical references, but it doesn't really hurt if you miss a lot of them. The story is strong enough on it's own.
The core story is that most hackneyed of genre devices - the quest. It traces one Shadrach's descent into the underworld to rescue his beloved, and then (literally) into the belly of the beast to avenge the wrongs that were visited upon her.
That's as far as the cliché goes, though. The setting, to begin with, is not some mediaevalist middle earth analog - it's a grim, intricately nightmarish far-future. The dark underworld is populated with ghastly creatures - all of which are the creations of Quin, an insane, brilliant genetic artist. Shadrach's beloved, Nicola, no longer returns his love. Quin himself is not unambiguously evil - he is cruel, sadistic and supremely twisted in a manner that Salvador Dali would have applauded, but it is hard to tell if his basic motivation - to replace the human race with something new - can be described as intrinsically evil.
The story is superbly constructed - it is divided into three sections, each longer than the previous one. First, we hear from Nicholas, second-rate struggling artist and Nicola's twin, in the first-person. Then we meet Nicola herself, in an unusual and unusually succesful second-person narrative. Finally, Shadrach, yes, the third person and in third-person.
It may all seem very clever-clever, but it in fact works quite seamlessly.
The book is quite nerve- wracking at times - certain scenes are not for the weak of stomach - and yet, capable of oddly whimsical invention at others. There are scenes of utter horror and moments of total brutality (Shadrach discovers that Nicola has been captured by Quin when he visits an elderly client of Quin who is wearing Nicola's transplanted eye and hand). And yet, the prose is so smooth and compelling, you have to read it all.
In fact, this was the first book in a long time that I stayed up all night to finish. It was also my biggest lit-kick since Eco's Baudolino.
