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Jan. 28th, 2019 07:31 amThe Last Days of New Paris is ... maybe the most China Miéville book I have ever read? It is honestly self-parody levels of Miéville. I would believe, in fact, that some other writer created the entire thing as an elaborate practical joke on Miéville.
The plot: sometime in 1941, in the middle of WWII, Paris is accidentally exploded by a metaphysical idea-bomb and becomes a locked-down, constantly embattled zone where the living manifestations of Surrealist art and writing wreak havoc on the leftover Nazis. Meanwhile, the leftover Nazis have raised some sad demons to wreak havoc on the leftover Resistance.
...that's it, that's the book. There's some variety of plot involving a Resistance member teaming up with an infiltrator who's wandering Paris with a camera to catch snapshots of all the manifestations (including a line about having to catch them all that made me literally put down the book a moment and stare at the wall in outrage because OF COURSE a reference to Pokemon Snap, POKEMON IS ALSO SURREALIST ART, I GUESS, WHY NOT), and a Nazi plot to create or suborn the manifestations for its own purposes, but mostly it's just an excuse to lovingly describe the battle techniques of Dali paintings and famous Exquisite Corpses.
Miéville is always a little bit like this no matter what he's writing -- his worldbuilding is deeply surrealist in general -- but this time he gets to back it up with endless references and cameos by obscure historical figures and he is clearly having the best time in his life. Personally I felt a bit like I was being constantly bombarded with in-jokes I wasn't getting rather than actually absorbing any kind of story matter, so it left me somewhat cold, but that's fine! Write for yourself!
I did appreciate the index in back, and the entire book was worth it for the mention of the Société de Gévaudan, which apparently was a Resistance group, based in a psychiatric hospital, composed of avant-garde psychiatrists, philosophers, and patients, working collaboratively to organize weapon drops and an underground publishing house during the Occupation WHILE ALSO attempting to pursue new and more beneficial therapeutic techniques. Miéville (writing in-character as The Author China Miéville who has been told this story about New Paris by a Mysterious Personage): The facts are extraordinary enough in our timeline. But of all the untold stories of the world of New Paris, it is about the actions of the Société de Gévaudan that I would like to know more. Yes, I one thousand percent agree? Please tell me more??
I have attempted to verify Miéville's summary of the Société's activities but most Google-able sources appear to be in French and thus require more time for me to decipher, so further investigation will have to wait until a time when I'm not supposed to be getting ready for work!
The plot: sometime in 1941, in the middle of WWII, Paris is accidentally exploded by a metaphysical idea-bomb and becomes a locked-down, constantly embattled zone where the living manifestations of Surrealist art and writing wreak havoc on the leftover Nazis. Meanwhile, the leftover Nazis have raised some sad demons to wreak havoc on the leftover Resistance.
...that's it, that's the book. There's some variety of plot involving a Resistance member teaming up with an infiltrator who's wandering Paris with a camera to catch snapshots of all the manifestations (including a line about having to catch them all that made me literally put down the book a moment and stare at the wall in outrage because OF COURSE a reference to Pokemon Snap, POKEMON IS ALSO SURREALIST ART, I GUESS, WHY NOT), and a Nazi plot to create or suborn the manifestations for its own purposes, but mostly it's just an excuse to lovingly describe the battle techniques of Dali paintings and famous Exquisite Corpses.
Miéville is always a little bit like this no matter what he's writing -- his worldbuilding is deeply surrealist in general -- but this time he gets to back it up with endless references and cameos by obscure historical figures and he is clearly having the best time in his life. Personally I felt a bit like I was being constantly bombarded with in-jokes I wasn't getting rather than actually absorbing any kind of story matter, so it left me somewhat cold, but that's fine! Write for yourself!
I did appreciate the index in back, and the entire book was worth it for the mention of the Société de Gévaudan, which apparently was a Resistance group, based in a psychiatric hospital, composed of avant-garde psychiatrists, philosophers, and patients, working collaboratively to organize weapon drops and an underground publishing house during the Occupation WHILE ALSO attempting to pursue new and more beneficial therapeutic techniques. Miéville (writing in-character as The Author China Miéville who has been told this story about New Paris by a Mysterious Personage): The facts are extraordinary enough in our timeline. But of all the untold stories of the world of New Paris, it is about the actions of the Société de Gévaudan that I would like to know more. Yes, I one thousand percent agree? Please tell me more??
I have attempted to verify Miéville's summary of the Société's activities but most Google-able sources appear to be in French and thus require more time for me to decipher, so further investigation will have to wait until a time when I'm not supposed to be getting ready for work!
