Miévillians discussion

Welcome everybody, to the Goodreads Club Miéville.

If you'd like to introduce yourself, it would be nice to hear what it is about China Mieville and his work that interests you specifically.

We hope you'll have a great time in our group!

You can see my name is Annie. I like the way Mielville twist settings, charazcters and language to upset the reader's balance. Eah one of his books has a heightened pacing that leaves you tubling out of your seat. But then you read along for awhile and everything gradually begins to appear normal. The grotesque becomes endearing. Bizzare behaviors make sense. Then we return to our lives with a completely new perspective.

Hi Annie! Thanks for joining us! Well, you certainly look like a dyed in the wool Mievillian, since you're our very first member here and discovered us while we were still furtively trying to set the group up behind the scenes. ;)

And thank you so much for that lovely introduction; I can see we're going to benefit from your experiences. :)

Hi, and Traveller! Thanks for the invite. I've read Embassytown so far, but China occupies a nice mile of my TBR list. I'm looking forward to sharing the reading experience and insights with his GR fans.

Thanks for the invitation, Trav. Nice place you've got here. :)

I did read TM&M and thought it was very good! Wait, isn't this The Master and Margarita group? Kris, Traveller....okay, it's Kindred Spirits! Hi, folks! I'm here because smart, creative, and handsome bald men are such big turn ons. And I like giant squids.

Thanks, Traveller!

Well, hello there! I'm a self-proclaimed CM fangirl who got hooked on the way Miéville's imagination always seems to push the limits and somewhow succeeds in making the weirdest things seem perfectly plausible.

Hi people! Welcome! I still have some plans for the group, so never fear if things still seem a bit.. disorganized and nothing going on at present. China has some nice short online items that we can perhaps discuss soon just to get our feet wet. :)

Let's just wait for everybody to arrive first, and then perhaps this weekend we can do something brief but nice. :)

Aloha wrote: "I'm here because smart, creative, and handsome bald men are such big turn ons. And I like giant squids.
."
You're welcome, guys!
Yes so nice to see all the usual suspects, and like Aloha says- if you do New Weird, you have to be cool with squids! Jeff Vandermeer also is squidlover, btw. A lot of his books are to some extent similar but not quite as...B-I--GG as those of CM.

Nataliya wrote: "Well, hello there! I'm a self-proclaimed CM fangirl who got hooked on the way Miéville's imagination always seems to push the limits and somewhow succeeds in making the weirdest things seem perfect..."

If Nataliya wasn't so busy, she would have been a mod...

You have lot of Mieville under the belt, don't you?

Chance wrote: "Hi, and Traveller! Thanks for the invite. I've read Embassytown so far, but China occupies a nice mile of my TBR list. I'm looking forward to sharing the reading experience and insights with his GR..."

We could tackle them together - looking forward.

Kris wrote: "Thanks for the invitation, Trav. Nice place you've got here. :)"

Thanks for you offers of help, Kris! Always generous. :)

Traveller wrote: "You have lot of Mieville under the belt, don't you? "

Who, me? Let's see... Perdido Street Station, The Scar, Iron Council, The City & The City, Un Lun Dun, Kraken, Railsea, Embassytown.
And the odd bits and pieces - London's Overthrow, Covehithe, The Rope is the World.

I'm saving up Looking for Jake and King Rat for my end-of-year reads. It will be my Christmas present to myself this year.

After that, I will have to start Miéville rereads, otherwise I will be in real danger of withdrawal.

hi everyone {waves}
I just think China Mieville is seriously hot.
Just saying.

i think i'm in Andrea's camp here.

just started reading an early short stories collection, but it's mainly what certain people have been saying (looking at you :P) that's made me curious to read more as well.

bandwagoning - jumping on the train? i'll find out more as i read more - having said that, i read the samples of embassytown and the scar and the latter particularly hooked my interest.

@Scribble - 'The Scar' is my all-time favorite Miéville book, so I'm happy that it seems interesting to you :)

Can we have a thread for Embassytown pls?

Scribble wrote: "i think i'm in Andrea's camp here.

just started reading an early short stories collection, but it's mainly what certain people have been saying (looking at you :P) that's made me curious to read m..."

I've been collecting and stockpiling Miéville for a while, but haven't actually read any yet - so it will be fun to read him along with you veterans.

us China Girls lol

Andrea wrote: "us China Girls lol"

:)

oh dear. I thought for a minute there of david bowie...brain drain...

Scribble wrote: "oh dear. I thought for a minute there of david bowie...brain drain..."

Me too, Scribble. :)

Kris wrote: "Me too, Scribble. :)"

Oh good! What a relief!

It's good to see you two, A&S -- I was undergoing withdrawal symptoms (really!).

Kris wrote: "Andrea wrote: "Kris wrote: "Your incoherence isn't very incoherent, my dear. :)"

i had to fix the typing heaps"

Many of my students would fail to do that under similar conditions. :)"

ha!
I better sleep now, and you should too I guess, unless it's morning in which case don't sleep yet then until it's time to sleep, and then sleep.
;)

Hey guys! I made a separate thread for chatting.

Anything goes because this is New Weird. It's the Mess Hall just next door.

Then we can leave this thread for newcomers introducing themselves.

Thanks!

Andrea wrote: "you are right. can you delete the chat pls? its in wrong place and shouldn't be here. nite really now."

No, i won't do that... i'd rather see if i can shift them over.

Sleep well

FIrstly, thank you for the invite. I am so flattered to be counted among this august group though I’m not so sure that I rate. My only CM is Perdido Street Station. I had a love-hate relationship with the book: loving much more than hating. After reading only one of his books, there has never been an author that I have thought more about returning to to read more of his work. It just hasn’t happened... yet. Hopefully, this group will help me find my way through more of his world.

Robert wrote: "FIrstly, thank you for the invite. I am so flattered to be counted among this august group though I’m not so sure that I rate. My only CM is Perdido Street Station. I had a love-hate relationship w..."

Thanks so much for joining and posting, Robert! I actually only wanted to start a Mieville club once I'd read more of his work myself, but we can always do the journey together - that's what this group is for!

Lovely to see you here. :)

Andrea wrote: "Can we have a thread for Embassytown pls?"

The plan is to eventually have a thread for every single thing he's done. The crowds were let in the door before construction was completed, though... so please bear with my slowness - at least we got the group started..

Oh, and, please feel free to do requests like the one you have done in the Mess Hall- i'll check in regularly, and do requests first. :)

Andrea wrote: "you are right. can you delete the chat pls? its in wrong place and shouldn't be here. nite really now."
Thanks for the permission- actually, if you don't mind, I think I will delete a few posts... since they won't really make sense if moved over, which, it seems I cannot do unless I do it as a quote.

I knew I heard whispering!

Can guys join the 'China Girls'?

LOVE this tattoo.


The only CM fiction I've not ticked off my list is Railsea - loved everything else I've read (haven't looked at his political writings yet).

Iron Council is my fave. The ending gives me goosebumps every single time.

Glad to be here - thanks for the invite T :-)

hey Cloud, of course you are very welcome. Have a look.around our threads and let us know what you think about....whatever. We're a pretty zany bunch.

Clouds wrote: "Iron Council is my fave. The ending gives me goosebumps every single time."

Really? I loved it, too! It seems that it is an under-appreciated work of his, maybe given the overt political angle?

Clouds wrote: "Can guys join the 'China Girls'?

LOVE this tattoo.


The only CM fiction I've not ticked off my list is Railsea - loved everything else I've read (haven't looked at his political writings yet).

I..."

Glad you joined, Clouds!

Members, please don't forget to check out our ever-growing and aawwsum accumulation of threads out there. They've been put there for your posting pleasure, so, go out and multiply!

I'll be starting more structured group events like group reads and so on in November, when we hopefully all have a bit more time available. October is a bit of a scrunch-month for me.:(

Robert wrote: "FIrstly, thank you for the invite. I am so flattered to be counted among this august group though I’m not so sure that I rate. My only CM is Perdido Street Station. I had a love-hate relationship w..."

Hi Robert, welcome :). I see we have a book in common with me How Doctors Think, though your medicine subfolder is sadly empty. What sort of doctoring do you do?

Many of my folders are empty and just begging to be populated by books that I have read but not shelved (categorized). I am such a poor librarian. I haven't even added all my titles. Pointing index finger* "Bad librarian, Bad..."

I'm a Ditch Doctor: a cell biologist turned medic/firefighter. Mostly now though I'm a clinical educator teaching AHA classes in advanced cardiac and pediatric life support. Thank you for asking.

Robert wrote: "I'm a Ditch Doctor: a cell biologist turned medic/firefighter. Mostly now though I'm a clinical educator teaching AHA classes in advanced cardiac and pediatric life support.."

oo, I have heaps of admiration for people who do ACLS. I'm terrified of emergencies. My usual response is that of palpitations until the ambulance arrives and relief when they do. You are indeed a Special Person and can stop pointing a finger now.

Hello. I feel a bit of a fraud in this group because I've only read one Mieville, and to my surprise and disappointment, I didn't enjoy it very much (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...).

Then I heard him talk passionately about one of my favourite works, Gormenghast, and chatted to him about it too.

After that, I decided that I have to give this guy another chance, but I have yet to decide which book to pick.

Cecily wrote: "Hello. I feel a bit of a fraud in this group because I've only read one Mieville, and to my surprise and disappointment, I didn't enjoy it very much (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...)...."

Hi, Cecily, nice to see you popping up here. :)

I was going to announce a group read of Perdido Street Station very soon, but if you don't like The Scar, i doubt you will like PSS. How about you try out The City and The City?

I might ask someone else to lead a group through that, since i myself also still need to read it, and it is next on my list. Or else we can do TC&TC shortly after PSS.. I will send out a notification to all members when these events are closer to fruition, so you can decide then whether to join in or not. :)

Just as long as you give sufficient notice for most people to get hold of a copy. ;)

Dear Fraud,

I read your review and feel your pain. There was so much about the review that I agreed with though it was about PSS and not The Scar. I rated PSS much higher but still had some of the same reservations. Perhaps we should stand together against these, what do they call themselves, China Dolls?

I just started a Sanderson book but am going to set it aside to read my second CM book. It was going to be The Scar but maybe I should reconsider.

Robert wrote: "Dear Fraud,

I read your review and feel your pain. There was so much about the review that I agreed with though it was about PSS and not The Scar. I rated PSS much higher but still had some of the..."

This group welcomes dissent-- i think China would approve. We are all against totalitarianism, and so you are free to stick out your tongues at us as long as you don't mind being pelted back with rotten tomatoes. Har.

No, but seriously, i actually agree with both of you. But there is a ...'something' that shines through his work...-call it 'soul' if you will? ..and wit and intelligence, and a touch of rebellion, and intuition, and...empathy and..original thought, and well, he is a bit of a pot-stirrer, which i like. :)

There's a lot that makes up for the downside, and, Robert, his work is still nowhere near as boring as Middlemarch... :P

So T, what should I read next? I really did like PSS, there were parts that I loved. I immediately recognized the genius of CM and why I was so excited about your our new group.

I will not be deterred by one review of The Scar (*R tips his cap to C). Is it the most logical next book after PSS? Or should I try something else. It will have to be Audible-friendly but they have most of CM's catalog. Anything will be more exciting than Middlemarch @_@ and I will not hold the recommendation against you if it is not.

Actually, Traveller, that is not fair to ask of you. Maybe I should just ask the group, which one of CM's books is your favorite?

Robert wrote: "Actually, Traveller, that is not fair to ask of you. Maybe I should just ask the group, which one of CM's books is your favorite?"

Read The City and The City with me. I'll make it an event if you are happy to start it at the end of November.

Personally I thoroughly enjoyed The Scar, but if one has not previously read Perdido Street Station I suspect a lot of the nuance and texture is lost. The plot is independent, but the backstory and the ver prose are really not. Besides lacking a gut understanding for the reason of Bellis' flight and the reason for the terrified nature of said flight, I think one probably loses a lot when places are described. Booktown, for instance, is described to some degree, but the novel relies on prior intimate familiarity with khepri to give the sights, sounds and smells life, and to fill in the blanks about what isn't described.

Miéville does have his faults, but it's unfair, I think, to judge based on an incomplete picture.

Thanks, J. I did read PSS and TS seems logical. BTW, I don't ever judge; I only report facts ;P