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A Year in the Linear City
Une ville-monde.
Un immense ruban urbain apparemment sans fin bordé par les Voies – un chemin de fer – et le Fleuve. En son sous-sol, un métro. Et sous le métro… Bienvenue dans la Ville-Rue. Diego Patchen réside dans le quartier de Vilgravier, du côté du 10.394.850e Bloc. Amoureux d’une plantureuse pompière, affligé d’un père malade acariâtre, Diego vit d’expédients. Son activité favorite demeure toutefois l’écriture de récits spéculatifs, ce genre littéraire appelé « Cosmos-Fiction ». Un registre volontiers décrié, mais qui bénéficie d’un socle de lecteurs fidèles, et dans lequel les écrivains se plaisent à imaginer d’autres mondes, d’autres univers, aux configurations différentes… Et alors que Diego célèbre la sortie de son premier recueil, le voici bientôt invité à une croisière sur le Fleuve…
« Di Filippo à l’apex de son énergie créative idiosyncratique. »
Locus
Un immense ruban urbain apparemment sans fin bordé par les Voies – un chemin de fer – et le Fleuve. En son sous-sol, un métro. Et sous le métro… Bienvenue dans la Ville-Rue. Diego Patchen réside dans le quartier de Vilgravier, du côté du 10.394.850e Bloc. Amoureux d’une plantureuse pompière, affligé d’un père malade acariâtre, Diego vit d’expédients. Son activité favorite demeure toutefois l’écriture de récits spéculatifs, ce genre littéraire appelé « Cosmos-Fiction ». Un registre volontiers décrié, mais qui bénéficie d’un socle de lecteurs fidèles, et dans lequel les écrivains se plaisent à imaginer d’autres mondes, d’autres univers, aux configurations différentes… Et alors que Diego célèbre la sortie de son premier recueil, le voici bientôt invité à une croisière sur le Fleuve…
« Di Filippo à l’apex de son énergie créative idiosyncratique. »
Locus
80 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2002
5 people are currently reading
405 people want to read
About the author
Paul Di Filippo
518 books188 followersPaul Di Filippo is the author of hundreds of short stories, some of which have been collected in these widely-praised collections: The Steampunk Trilogy, Ribofunk, Fractal Paisleys, Lost Pages, Little Doors, Strange Trades, Babylon Sisters, and his multiple-award-nominated novella, A Year in the Linear City. Another earlier collection, Destroy All Brains, was published by Pirate Writings, but is quite rare because of the extremely short print run (if you see one, buy it!).
The popularity of Di Filippo’s short stories sometimes distracts from the impact of his mindbending, utterly unclassifiable novels: Ciphers, Joe’s Liver, Fuzzy Dice, A Mouthful of Tongues, and Spondulix. Paul’s offbeat sensibility, soulful characterizations, exquisite-yet-compact prose, and laugh-out-loud dialogue give his work a charmingly unique voice that is both compelling and addictive. He has been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, BSFA, Philip K. Dick, Wired Magazine, and World Fantasy awards.
Despite his dilatory ways, Paul affirms that the sequel to A Year in the Linear City, to be titled A Princess of the Linear Jungle, will get written in 2008. He has two books forthcoming from PS Publications: the collection entitled Harsh Oases and the novel titled Roadside Bodhisattva. His 2008 novel Cosmocopia is graced by Jim Woodring illustrations.
Paul lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
The popularity of Di Filippo’s short stories sometimes distracts from the impact of his mindbending, utterly unclassifiable novels: Ciphers, Joe’s Liver, Fuzzy Dice, A Mouthful of Tongues, and Spondulix. Paul’s offbeat sensibility, soulful characterizations, exquisite-yet-compact prose, and laugh-out-loud dialogue give his work a charmingly unique voice that is both compelling and addictive. He has been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, BSFA, Philip K. Dick, Wired Magazine, and World Fantasy awards.
Despite his dilatory ways, Paul affirms that the sequel to A Year in the Linear City, to be titled A Princess of the Linear Jungle, will get written in 2008. He has two books forthcoming from PS Publications: the collection entitled Harsh Oases and the novel titled Roadside Bodhisattva. His 2008 novel Cosmocopia is graced by Jim Woodring illustrations.
Paul lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
January 18, 2019
This hardcover is numbered 28 of 300 copies printed and is signed by Paul Di Filippo
Diego Patchen, lives in the 10,394,850th block of the city's one through street, Broadway, in Gritsavage, one of the city's many many boroughs. A subway runs under Broadway for the length of the city, however long that may be. Every block is separated from the next by a short cross street, the depth of the buildings on either side of Broadway. On one side there is the river and on the other the railroad.
Beyond these limits of everyday life are this world's equivalent of Hell and Heaven, the Wrong Side of the Tracks and the Other Shore, for in this world there is certainty about what happens after you die.
This is particularly relevant to Diego at the moment, as his father is dying and bitterly proud of the great number of Yardbulls massing to escort him to the Wrong Side.
A Year in the Linear City was a finalist for the 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella., the 2003 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella. and the 2003 Theodore Sturgeon Award.
I loved this book.
Diego Patchen, lives in the 10,394,850th block of the city's one through street, Broadway, in Gritsavage, one of the city's many many boroughs. A subway runs under Broadway for the length of the city, however long that may be. Every block is separated from the next by a short cross street, the depth of the buildings on either side of Broadway. On one side there is the river and on the other the railroad.
Beyond these limits of everyday life are this world's equivalent of Hell and Heaven, the Wrong Side of the Tracks and the Other Shore, for in this world there is certainty about what happens after you die.
This is particularly relevant to Diego at the moment, as his father is dying and bitterly proud of the great number of Yardbulls massing to escort him to the Wrong Side.
A Year in the Linear City was a finalist for the 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella., the 2003 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella. and the 2003 Theodore Sturgeon Award.
I loved this book.
August 7, 2023
How much I enjoyed this weird fiction novella shouldn't have came as a surprise, as I've read twenty-eight works of short fiction from di Filipo, mostly from a single series, and was pleased with the majority of them. Yet, somehow I haven't read any of his novels, but I will sooner than later now. Much of the weird I've read has been mediocre, but this gives me hope for it again. This alone may have made my novella binge worth it.
The premise of the world is that it's an endless city two blocks wide in both linear directions. These two separated blocks are more distinct than you'd think. They're basically complementary binaries. The world is probably a (spoilered to maximize the sense of wonder when reading) That doesn't make any sense, but why should it have to? It's weird for that reason. The closest thing in the real world to any of this is the proposed linear smart city that would be called, The Line, which would be in Neom, Saudi Arabia, assuming it's ever completed.
This novella has far more ideas crammed in than there reasonably should be, but even only a cursory examination of them was still more than enough for me to overlook all the shortcomings. For example, when people die they're visibly and physically taken to the afterlife by one of two groups. Nothing is ever explicitly explained, so if that's something you need, you won't find it here. The characters are almost as baffled about their world as the readers are. There's a bit of a meta aspect to their pondering, and especially to the writer protagonist's speculative writings.
There isn't a plot. It's simply the characters' daily lives, which is shown in a way that I especially prefer. Only maybe one of the characters develops in any significant way, not that there's all that many pages for many of them to do so. Despite that I liked all the characters. Almost everything is in service of worldbuilding. At first I was annoyed by Di Filippo's thesaurus plundering and the character names, but then I realized that the contrasting vocabularies and absurd names were part of the worldbuilding and it became quaint.
My only complaint is that it isn't longer, because I could read so, so, much more of this. It's absurd how much fun it became the more I read. I was going to rate it lower, but by the end anything that I disliked while reading became irrelevant. There's a sequel which is much lower rated and although it's apparently in the same setting, it's very different. Considering what I spoilered, that makes sense, and even though the probability of disappointment is significant it's still something I'll definitely be reading.
The premise of the world is that it's an endless city two blocks wide in both linear directions. These two separated blocks are more distinct than you'd think. They're basically complementary binaries. The world is probably a (spoilered to maximize the sense of wonder when reading) That doesn't make any sense, but why should it have to? It's weird for that reason. The closest thing in the real world to any of this is the proposed linear smart city that would be called, The Line, which would be in Neom, Saudi Arabia, assuming it's ever completed.
This novella has far more ideas crammed in than there reasonably should be, but even only a cursory examination of them was still more than enough for me to overlook all the shortcomings. For example, when people die they're visibly and physically taken to the afterlife by one of two groups. Nothing is ever explicitly explained, so if that's something you need, you won't find it here. The characters are almost as baffled about their world as the readers are. There's a bit of a meta aspect to their pondering, and especially to the writer protagonist's speculative writings.
There isn't a plot. It's simply the characters' daily lives, which is shown in a way that I especially prefer. Only maybe one of the characters develops in any significant way, not that there's all that many pages for many of them to do so. Despite that I liked all the characters. Almost everything is in service of worldbuilding. At first I was annoyed by Di Filippo's thesaurus plundering and the character names, but then I realized that the contrasting vocabularies and absurd names were part of the worldbuilding and it became quaint.
My only complaint is that it isn't longer, because I could read so, so, much more of this. It's absurd how much fun it became the more I read. I was going to rate it lower, but by the end anything that I disliked while reading became irrelevant. There's a sequel which is much lower rated and although it's apparently in the same setting, it's very different. Considering what I spoilered, that makes sense, and even though the probability of disappointment is significant it's still something I'll definitely be reading.
August 10, 2021
A Year in the Linear City is a slice of life novella with a setting that has a lot going on: the titular city is only two blocks wide but millions of blocks long, functioning thanks to ancient machinery that the city's inhabitants can repair but don't fully understand. Also underneath the city is a huge subterranean beast with burning blood and scales that bring good luck, but that are illegal to take. Also the afterlife is real, and everyone in the city knows that, since when you die then either Fisherwives or Yardbulls will swoop down from where they soar above the city and carry your corpse to paradise or damnation, respectively. Diego Patchen, the equivalent of a sci-fi writer in this world (the genre instead being called “Cosmogonic Fiction”), visits his ailing father, writes up short stories, helps his friend out of a bind, and eventually takes a trip.
This book is an example of an author packing too many ideas into a story, not because it's jumbled or confusing, but because the ideas are so numerous and the work so short that nothing gets explored beyond the surface level. Instead of a deep look into how a father and his son deal with the father's impending death in a world where everyone knows the afterlife is real and that the father's life is about to be judged, instead of an immersive story about the illegal trade in scales and the subterranean excursions necessary for that line of work, instead of a long journey to try to reach the end of this vast & narrow city, we get a little smattering of everything and no piece feels complete. But this is often the nature of slice of life stories, which can instead be satisfying through a completed character arc. Paul Di Filippo doesn’t quite give Diego such an arc. Filippo could have . Diego, even though he’s the most developed character in the book, doesn’t change much throughout the course of the story, and as such A Year in the Linear City doesn’t have anything that makes it feel like a cohesive whole.
Even in the absence of an engaging plot or a satisfying character arc, great writing could save the day, but Di Filippo’s writing is probably the weakest aspect of A Year in the Linear City. I have a high tolerance for prolixity, but the beginning of this book is a bit too much. You can’t even argue that this is intentionally done to echo the pomposity of the main character, since it’s obvious that this is just Di Filippo’s choice: See, for example, his choice to use the word “pthtisic,” the archaic spelling of “phthisic.” What in the world could he have possibly thought that added to the book? The work being so overwritten is made worse by the fact that Di Filippo seemingly spent his time with his nose in a thesaurus at the cost of proofreading. On just the third page of this story, Di Filippo writes:
The writing also belies that Di Filippo didn’t put much care into making sure that the characters and world made logical sense on the micro level and macro level. For a character example, Diego is irate when Volusia is late for dinner, and never shows any anxiety. However, Volusia has a dangerous job as a fire fighter, so her failure to show up on time should have made Diego worry for her safety if he (a) cared about Volusia and (b) isn’t an asshole. The narrative makes clear that Diego does care about Volusia, and there’s no indication that Di Filippo is intentionally portraying him as an asshole, so he’s just doing it unintentionally through poor writing. For a world example, it’s very minor but at one point the narrative uses the phrase “Gal Friday” which means that the book Robinson Crusoe exists in this world, which makes no sense. For a much more major example, the characters in the story don’t know what the start of the linear city looks like, but based on what we are told about train speeds and the travel time of the book’s characters the start of the city could be reached in well under a year. By the book’s own logic the start of the city should be a known quantity to everyone in Diego’s neighborhood, not some mind-breaking mystery.
One more thing, the repeated instances of Diego imagining how things work in our world, but it’s so absurd to him that he makes it the subject of one of his Cosmogonic Fiction stories, aren’t nearly as clever as Di Filippo thinks they are. In fact they’re not clever at all, but very irritating.
Even with all these flaws, A Year in the Linear City avoids the ultimate sin: it isn’t boring. Its world, even though it’s jam-packed with a bunch of things that are only touched upon, is interesting. I liked the relationships Diego had with his father, lover, and friend, even though the book didn’t spend enough time on any of them to get me emotionally invested. At well under a hundred pages, it didn’t overstay its welcome. To me, these are no mean virtues, and they counterbalance the numerous flaws of the work and leave me rating it a 3/5.
This book is an example of an author packing too many ideas into a story, not because it's jumbled or confusing, but because the ideas are so numerous and the work so short that nothing gets explored beyond the surface level. Instead of a deep look into how a father and his son deal with the father's impending death in a world where everyone knows the afterlife is real and that the father's life is about to be judged, instead of an immersive story about the illegal trade in scales and the subterranean excursions necessary for that line of work, instead of a long journey to try to reach the end of this vast & narrow city, we get a little smattering of everything and no piece feels complete. But this is often the nature of slice of life stories, which can instead be satisfying through a completed character arc. Paul Di Filippo doesn’t quite give Diego such an arc. Filippo could have . Diego, even though he’s the most developed character in the book, doesn’t change much throughout the course of the story, and as such A Year in the Linear City doesn’t have anything that makes it feel like a cohesive whole.
Even in the absence of an engaging plot or a satisfying character arc, great writing could save the day, but Di Filippo’s writing is probably the weakest aspect of A Year in the Linear City. I have a high tolerance for prolixity, but the beginning of this book is a bit too much. You can’t even argue that this is intentionally done to echo the pomposity of the main character, since it’s obvious that this is just Di Filippo’s choice: See, for example, his choice to use the word “pthtisic,” the archaic spelling of “phthisic.” What in the world could he have possibly thought that added to the book? The work being so overwritten is made worse by the fact that Di Filippo seemingly spent his time with his nose in a thesaurus at the cost of proofreading. On just the third page of this story, Di Filippo writes:
Kush’s newest lover, the capricious Milagra Eventyr, who had, by sensually occupying Diego’s lap at one point in the boozy, bleary evening, precipitated a fight with Diego’s own lover, the formidable Volusia Bittern.Either the inclusion of the word “who” was a mistake, or else Di Filippo just forgot to finish the sentence. A story this short shouldn’t have mistakes like this.
The writing also belies that Di Filippo didn’t put much care into making sure that the characters and world made logical sense on the micro level and macro level. For a character example, Diego is irate when Volusia is late for dinner, and never shows any anxiety. However, Volusia has a dangerous job as a fire fighter, so her failure to show up on time should have made Diego worry for her safety if he (a) cared about Volusia and (b) isn’t an asshole. The narrative makes clear that Diego does care about Volusia, and there’s no indication that Di Filippo is intentionally portraying him as an asshole, so he’s just doing it unintentionally through poor writing. For a world example, it’s very minor but at one point the narrative uses the phrase “Gal Friday” which means that the book Robinson Crusoe exists in this world, which makes no sense. For a much more major example, the characters in the story don’t know what the start of the linear city looks like, but based on what we are told about train speeds and the travel time of the book’s characters the start of the city could be reached in well under a year. By the book’s own logic the start of the city should be a known quantity to everyone in Diego’s neighborhood, not some mind-breaking mystery.
One more thing, the repeated instances of Diego imagining how things work in our world, but it’s so absurd to him that he makes it the subject of one of his Cosmogonic Fiction stories, aren’t nearly as clever as Di Filippo thinks they are. In fact they’re not clever at all, but very irritating.
Even with all these flaws, A Year in the Linear City avoids the ultimate sin: it isn’t boring. Its world, even though it’s jam-packed with a bunch of things that are only touched upon, is interesting. I liked the relationships Diego had with his father, lover, and friend, even though the book didn’t spend enough time on any of them to get me emotionally invested. At well under a hundred pages, it didn’t overstay its welcome. To me, these are no mean virtues, and they counterbalance the numerous flaws of the work and leave me rating it a 3/5.
February 28, 2023
Court roman d'un auteur que je découvre, Paul Di Filippo. Grande inventivité dans ces quelques pages, on est transporté dans un monde surprenant, sans contexte et sans explication. Je pourrais rapprocher ce travail de l'oeuvre de China Mieville, et plus particulièrement de son chef d'oeuvre, Perdido Street Station.
Très agréable lecture, qui donnerait envie d'en savoir plus sur cette ville -rue et ses mystères...
Très agréable lecture, qui donnerait envie d'en savoir plus sur cette ville -rue et ses mystères...
August 28, 2012
Paul Di Filippo è decisamente una delle menti più fantasiose in circolazione. Quando riesce a tradurre le sue immagini mentali in parole, sa anche essere un ottimo scrittore. Peccato non riesca sempre.
La fantascienza - molto più del fantasy, mi si conceda - è essenzialmente la capacità di immaginare nuovi mondi, nuove realtà, nuove infinita possibilità.
Di Filippo lo sa bene, e su questa sola idea ha costruito questo breve romanzo: un mondo piatto, un'unica infinita città attraversato da un'altrettanto infinita strada. Sopra i tetti, due soli: uno giornaliero, l'altro stagionale. E oltre i confini, come sempre, l'innominabile, l'indagabile: l'oltretomba, il regno della morte, l'aldilà. Proprio da queste terre oltre confine giungono i mostruosi o affascinanti Accompagnatori, incaricati di portare le anime dei morti.
Lo sa bene anche Diego Patchen, protagonista del romanzo e autore di un singolare genere, la "narrativa cosmologica": altro non sarebbe che la fantascienza, o almeno, così come la intende lo stesso Di Filippo. Chiuso nel suo mondo infinito e senza tempo, Diego immagina nuovi mondi alternativi, cercando e poi trovando il successo.
Le idee ci sono, e sono anche parecchio affascinanti. A mancare del tutto è la storia. La trama è inconsistente, priva di un filo conduttore, di una direzione, il finale pare affrettato, messo lì a chiudere una storia che non è mai stata tale.
Provaci ancora, Paul.
La fantascienza - molto più del fantasy, mi si conceda - è essenzialmente la capacità di immaginare nuovi mondi, nuove realtà, nuove infinita possibilità.
Di Filippo lo sa bene, e su questa sola idea ha costruito questo breve romanzo: un mondo piatto, un'unica infinita città attraversato da un'altrettanto infinita strada. Sopra i tetti, due soli: uno giornaliero, l'altro stagionale. E oltre i confini, come sempre, l'innominabile, l'indagabile: l'oltretomba, il regno della morte, l'aldilà. Proprio da queste terre oltre confine giungono i mostruosi o affascinanti Accompagnatori, incaricati di portare le anime dei morti.
Lo sa bene anche Diego Patchen, protagonista del romanzo e autore di un singolare genere, la "narrativa cosmologica": altro non sarebbe che la fantascienza, o almeno, così come la intende lo stesso Di Filippo. Chiuso nel suo mondo infinito e senza tempo, Diego immagina nuovi mondi alternativi, cercando e poi trovando il successo.
Le idee ci sono, e sono anche parecchio affascinanti. A mancare del tutto è la storia. La trama è inconsistente, priva di un filo conduttore, di una direzione, il finale pare affrettato, messo lì a chiudere una storia che non è mai stata tale.
Provaci ancora, Paul.
March 10, 2011
Di Filippo's style is absolutely inimitable in this book, a virtuoso feat of worldbuilding and a damn funny tale that touches sex, poverty, the "WRITER'S LIFE" (I know, I know) and the role of SF.
Check out this prose:
"Flowing through the basement wall as if through sheer air, five luminescent Fisherwives filled the room with their briney odor. Half again as large as a human, each pearly monochromatic Wife was cauled within wavy drapery that seemed more an extension of their forms, rather than any robe or mantle. Vast irregular wings like the tissuey integuments of lobsters unfurled behind them, penetrating any inanimate intersecting barriers of wall, ceiling or furniture. A subliminal melodic buzzing that verged on intelligibility filled the ears of the humans. The Pompatics shed melting scintilla like snowflakes of cold light. Their sisterly faces, all different, all generic, conveyed no discernible emotions."
PARAGRAPH.
Check out this prose:
"Flowing through the basement wall as if through sheer air, five luminescent Fisherwives filled the room with their briney odor. Half again as large as a human, each pearly monochromatic Wife was cauled within wavy drapery that seemed more an extension of their forms, rather than any robe or mantle. Vast irregular wings like the tissuey integuments of lobsters unfurled behind them, penetrating any inanimate intersecting barriers of wall, ceiling or furniture. A subliminal melodic buzzing that verged on intelligibility filled the ears of the humans. The Pompatics shed melting scintilla like snowflakes of cold light. Their sisterly faces, all different, all generic, conveyed no discernible emotions."
PARAGRAPH.
June 22, 2010
I first saw this book in an exhibition in the SciFi Museum in Seattle, and immediately wrote down its title. There isn't really a well-defined genre for pure-imaginative stuff like this. Not fantasy, scifi, steampunk or cyberpunk. 'Alternate worlds' maybe.
I love the ideas and the setting, although the length (it's a novella) limits their exploration. The characters are vivid, but the dialogue is almost deliberately cheesy and expositional, viz. "I know how insane our world is, how much unexamined mystery underpins it!"
There's a fun self-referential device where the protagonist is himself a writer of alternate world fiction (alternate to their strange universe, that is). He fantasises about elements of our world, inventing appropriately cheesy names for them.
I expected to love this rather than like it, but was let down somewhat by the writing.
I love the ideas and the setting, although the length (it's a novella) limits their exploration. The characters are vivid, but the dialogue is almost deliberately cheesy and expositional, viz. "I know how insane our world is, how much unexamined mystery underpins it!"
There's a fun self-referential device where the protagonist is himself a writer of alternate world fiction (alternate to their strange universe, that is). He fantasises about elements of our world, inventing appropriately cheesy names for them.
I expected to love this rather than like it, but was let down somewhat by the writing.
Read
October 21, 2007I felt the plot took a while to get going but I was prepared to wait around for it. A superb and vivid setting on an apparently endless city which is two blocks wide, and where the afterlife visibly comes to get you when you die. The protagonist is a science fiction ("Cosmogonic Fiction") writer; his spectacular girlfriend, his other somewhat disreputable friends, his father, his editor, and the mayor make up a memorable cast.
October 11, 2020
There are so many things I loved about this book!
First of all, I really loved the concept and the imagery. Everything about the existence of the Linear City is so mysterious that if it were a series, I'd read it in a heartbeat, hoping for clues and answers. I find the scale hunting episode, where they get the closest to the City Beast, beautiful and intriguing - the very notion just made my brain come alive with sparks and colors and I just want more.
While reading about the Linear City from other sources, I found an article I liked, that lists a few possible explanations about it: the novella „is set in a perhaps infinitely extended City which rather resembles New York: its theatrical inhabitants may be occupying a Generation Starship, or a World Ship, or an artefact created to house the inhabitants of a Dying Earth, or a Posthumous Fantasy venue, or a Pocket Universe experiment in Utopia-building, or the epidermis of a vast living entity, perhaps a dragon; or all or none of these.”
I hope to find the second Linear City book and enjoy it just as much :)
(A Princess of The Linear Jungle)
Also, the language! The words this man uses... Luckily, I read it on my Kindle and could easily look up the definitions without breaking my flow, but there wasn't one page I didn't have to look something up. I don't know if this is how he usually writes, I'm curious to find out. At first, I found the language pompous for no good reason, but I got into it somehow. I don't know if it was meant this way, but it made sense to me towards the end, when the cultural and linguistic differences between the Boroughs came into focus - I just chose to see it as the way people speak in Gritsavage.
One thing that really tickled my brain was what I perceived as humor from the author, as Diego appeared to mirror Di Filippo, but as an alter-ego in an alternate universe. I particularly liked how some of Diego's sci-fi ideas are actually things we use every day in this universe (spoiler alert: ).
I could go on and on about this book, but I won't - I don't want to spoil the fun for everyone :)
If you're a sci-fi lover, you're looking for something a little different, a little weird, and cosmogonic fiction appeals to you, then read this and you'll be in for a treat.
First of all, I really loved the concept and the imagery. Everything about the existence of the Linear City is so mysterious that if it were a series, I'd read it in a heartbeat, hoping for clues and answers. I find the scale hunting episode, where they get the closest to the City Beast, beautiful and intriguing - the very notion just made my brain come alive with sparks and colors and I just want more.
While reading about the Linear City from other sources, I found an article I liked, that lists a few possible explanations about it: the novella „is set in a perhaps infinitely extended City which rather resembles New York: its theatrical inhabitants may be occupying a Generation Starship, or a World Ship, or an artefact created to house the inhabitants of a Dying Earth, or a Posthumous Fantasy venue, or a Pocket Universe experiment in Utopia-building, or the epidermis of a vast living entity, perhaps a dragon; or all or none of these.”
I hope to find the second Linear City book and enjoy it just as much :)
(A Princess of The Linear Jungle)
Also, the language! The words this man uses... Luckily, I read it on my Kindle and could easily look up the definitions without breaking my flow, but there wasn't one page I didn't have to look something up. I don't know if this is how he usually writes, I'm curious to find out. At first, I found the language pompous for no good reason, but I got into it somehow. I don't know if it was meant this way, but it made sense to me towards the end, when the cultural and linguistic differences between the Boroughs came into focus - I just chose to see it as the way people speak in Gritsavage.
One thing that really tickled my brain was what I perceived as humor from the author, as Diego appeared to mirror Di Filippo, but as an alter-ego in an alternate universe. I particularly liked how some of Diego's sci-fi ideas are actually things we use every day in this universe (spoiler alert: ).
I could go on and on about this book, but I won't - I don't want to spoil the fun for everyone :)
If you're a sci-fi lover, you're looking for something a little different, a little weird, and cosmogonic fiction appeals to you, then read this and you'll be in for a treat.
December 16, 2023
Certaines bizarreries de style m'ont chiffonné (l'effet est de toute évidence voulu, ça ne veut pas dire qu'il soit réussi) et ont rendu le démarrage difficile - problématique pour une novella mais on finit par passer outre et dans l'ensemble, ce récit se lit assez facilement.
Le message central de ce livre est assez limpide et fonctionne bien. L'univers créé a sa cohérence, son imagerie assez puissante, sa galerie de personnages plus ou moins réussis - mention spéciale à la compagne du héros, pas loin de lui voler la vedette.
Il n'y a pas vraiment d'intrigue mais une succession d'événements qui vont illustrer les idées de l'auteur sans jamais se faire trop démonstratif, et sans finir en queue de poisson.
En somme de la bonne science-fiction, sans prétention mais efficace.
Le message central de ce livre est assez limpide et fonctionne bien. L'univers créé a sa cohérence, son imagerie assez puissante, sa galerie de personnages plus ou moins réussis - mention spéciale à la compagne du héros, pas loin de lui voler la vedette.
Il n'y a pas vraiment d'intrigue mais une succession d'événements qui vont illustrer les idées de l'auteur sans jamais se faire trop démonstratif, et sans finir en queue de poisson.
En somme de la bonne science-fiction, sans prétention mais efficace.
December 23, 2023
Ce récit spéculatif présente la vie urbaine sous la forme d'une dualité entre ceux vivant du côté du fleuve et ceux vivant du côté des rails. La ségrégation faite dans la ville permet de bâtir une société de castes et de privilèges. La petite amie de Diego est une pompière alors que lui est écrivain. Le père malade, monument d'une autre époque, et la toxicomane s'éteignent anonymement au sein de cette ville-rue infinie. La mythologie des créatures féminines psychopompes est intéressante, mais sort un peu de l'ambiance très terre à terre des autres personnages. Il y a beaucoup de bons éléments dans ce récit, mais aucun ne semble pleinement abouti.
January 10, 2021
Un racconto fantascientifico interessante, nell'ambientazione più che nella trama (che forse scricchiola un poco): un mondo immaginario in cui una città si estende, forse infinta, su una sola dimensione, lungo una strada, paralleli alla quale corrono anche i binari del treno e un fiume, e ai lati della quale si stendono territori misteriosi, regni dell'aldilà per i giusti (da una parte) e per i dannati (dall'altra). L'idea è geniale, e ben descritta. Di Filippo sembra un autore promettente, cercherò altre sue storie.
(recensione del 9 dicembre 2008)
(recensione del 9 dicembre 2008)
May 28, 2021
Surprisingly terrific! I say surprisingly because I'm typically of two minds regarding the author's work. On the one hand if find it hugely imaginative and wondrous. On the other hand - it's often too complex for its own good; in a way you don't see the wood for the trees. This short novella was just right. A phenomenal example of weird fiction (or whatever epithet one prefers). A sort of coming of age story set in a weird (!) universe. Just lovely.
September 27, 2025
Somewhat interesting world with many a curious turn of phrase which sadly inundates the reading experience with their frequency. The characters were plain and the journey narrow. To summarize, this book sucked major razoo goolies.
March 11, 2021
My rating: ★★★
August 16, 2023
Сиђох с крста, цвеће касније. O_o
December 17, 2024
Une année dans la vie d'un écrivain de cosmos fiction dans un monde où tous nos repères sont perturbés, un petit livre qui fait réfléchir
September 27, 2025
Me showing my family I've been studying for the GRE
November 15, 2010
da: http://www.webalice.it/michele.castel... Paul Di Filippo e' uno scrittore di notevole spessore, con una tendenza al cyberpunk ma con una capacita' di affrontare temi anche molto diversi, e praticamente sconosciuto in Italia perche' ha scritto praticamente solo racconti che, a parte poche eccezioni in antologie o raccolte varie, la mancanza cronica di riviste di fantascienza ne rendono la diffusione nel nostro paese estremamente povera. Personalmente non amo molto i racconti, perche' difficilmente permettono lo sviluppo completo delle potenzialita' di una idea, a meno che non si tratti di una battuta fulminante, come nei racconti di Brown, o di un'idea brillante un po' fine a se' stessa. Devo pero' riconoscere che Di Filippo, in questo racconto lungo, riesce a creare una atmosfera completa di questa citta' assolutamente irrealistica, a darne le sensazioni vere che si possono provare nel viverci, e e a costruirci anche una storia che ha una sua logica e una sua conclusione, seppure completamente aperta ad ogni possibile sviluppo. La sua capacita' piu' importante mi sembra quella di rendere "sensibile" al lettore un ambiente estremamente complesso in un modo estremamente semplice e breve, presentando contemporaneamente i personaggi che agiranno nella storia. Riesce quindi a concentrare in un numero ridotto di pagine la parte descrittiva che in casi del genere e' assolutamente predominante, e senza perdere complessita' anche se deve fidarsi molto nella capacita' di estrapolazione e di immedesimazione del lettore. Per me, che avevo letto di Di Filippo solo un altro racconto che non mi aveva lasciato impressioni particolari, questo e' stata una sorpresa estremamente positiva, anche se mi rimane la domanda di cosa saprebbe fare sulla lunghezza di un romanzo, visto che la sua capacita' di immaginazione e' in grado di creare scenari strani, complessi ma credibili. Puo' riuscire a costruire una storia altrettanto complessa e realistica dello scenario? E se si', cosa aspetta a farlo?
October 14, 2012
Paul Di Filippo è decisamente una delle menti più fantasiose in circolazione. Quando riesce a tradurre le sue immagini mentali in parole, sa anche essere un ottimo scrittore. Peccato non riesca sempre.
La fantascienza - molto più del fantasy, mi si conceda - è essenzialmente la capacità di immaginare nuovi mondi, nuove realtà, nuove infinite possibilità.
Di Filippo lo sa bene, e su questa sola idea ha costruito questo breve romanzo: un mondo piatto, un'unica infinita città attraversato da un'altrettanto infinita strada. Sopra i tetti, due soli: uno giornaliero, l'altro stagionale. E oltre i confini, come sempre, l'innominabile, l'indagabile: l'oltretomba, il regno della morte, l'aldilà. Proprio da queste terre oltre confine giungono i mostruosi o affascinanti Accompagnatori, incaricati di portare le anime dei morti.
Continua su
http://www.lastambergadeilettori.com/...
La fantascienza - molto più del fantasy, mi si conceda - è essenzialmente la capacità di immaginare nuovi mondi, nuove realtà, nuove infinite possibilità.
Di Filippo lo sa bene, e su questa sola idea ha costruito questo breve romanzo: un mondo piatto, un'unica infinita città attraversato da un'altrettanto infinita strada. Sopra i tetti, due soli: uno giornaliero, l'altro stagionale. E oltre i confini, come sempre, l'innominabile, l'indagabile: l'oltretomba, il regno della morte, l'aldilà. Proprio da queste terre oltre confine giungono i mostruosi o affascinanti Accompagnatori, incaricati di portare le anime dei morti.
Continua su
http://www.lastambergadeilettori.com/...
December 27, 2023
Reading this book felt like being on really heavy drugs (that I don't have real life experience with), but not in an unpleasant way. I still have no idea what to make of it. For some reason it reminds me of Borges' writing and all things infinite and Babel like. This is unlike Dostoevsky, whose books made me physically ill and mentally shattered for days and weeks at the time. It's like they are two sides of the same coin.
July 5, 2007
A wonderful novella published in a limited edition of 500. I read the first half aloud to my girlfriend and then the second half by myself. I'll read the second half aloud to her at the earliest opportunity. An interesting alternate world in the vein of Riverworld, Ringworld, or Discworld -- but slightly more interesting. Ideas worth returning to!
January 31, 2014
Carino.
Di Filippo ha una prosa leggermente più complessa della media dei suoi colleghi, e riesce sempre a costruire scenari e personaggi convincenti.
Forse una manciata di pagine in più avrebbe giovato, e secondo me da questo racconto potrebbe scaturire un romanzo lungo decisamente originale ed avvincente.
Anche così, comunque, si è rivelata una lettura piacevole.
Di Filippo ha una prosa leggermente più complessa della media dei suoi colleghi, e riesce sempre a costruire scenari e personaggi convincenti.
Forse una manciata di pagine in più avrebbe giovato, e secondo me da questo racconto potrebbe scaturire un romanzo lungo decisamente originale ed avvincente.
Anche così, comunque, si è rivelata una lettura piacevole.
January 29, 2013
Astonishing book. It's been haunting me since I read it a year ago.
January 4, 2014
Idea un po' stupidina, personaggi appena abbozzati, tante idee da sviluppare meglio.
October 17, 2015
I listened to this story first. It went by really fast, it was nice to sit back and enjoy the story as it unfolded, at my own pace
January 16, 2024
A strange little novella that’s wonderfully written. Di Filippo has a way with words and an eye for imaginative settings. The linear city left me wanting more.
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