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The City and the City - China Miéville
The City and the City
by: (author)
3.81 730
New York Times bestselling author China Miéville delivers his most accomplished novel yet, an existential thriller set in a city unlike any other–real or imagined.When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector... show more
New York Times bestselling author China Miéville delivers his most accomplished novel yet, an existential thriller set in a city unlike any other–real or imagined.When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he investigates, the evidence points to conspiracies far stranger and more deadly than anything he could have imagined.Borlú must travel from the decaying Beszel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own. This is a border crossing like no other, a journey as psychic as it is physical, a shift in perception, a seeing of the unseen. His destination is Beszel’s equal, rival, and intimate neighbor, the rich and vibrant city of Ul Qoma. With Ul Qoman detective Qussim Dhatt, and struggling with his own transition, Borlú is enmeshed in a sordid underworld of rabid nationalists intent on destroying their neighboring city, and unificationists who dream of dissolving the two into one. As the detectives uncover the dead woman’s secrets, they begin to suspect a truth that could cost them and those they care about more than their lives. What stands against them are murderous powers in Beszel and in Ul Qoma: and, most terrifying of all, that which lies between these two cities.Casting shades of Kafka and Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and 1984, The City & the City is a murder mystery taken to dazzling metaphysical and artistic heights.
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Format: hardcover
ISBN: 9780345497512 (0345497511)
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Pages no: 312
Edition language: English
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Community Reviews
Ceridwen
Ceridwen rated it
0.0 Why not both?
Mr. Ceridwen once had a very large public tizzy about how irritating this book was to him, I'm sure made all the more irritating because I had also just publicly declared my enduring love for Mr. Miéville. That was probably like a dozen years ago, which is apparently how long it takes me to get over...
"So it goes."
"So it goes." rated it
4.5 The City & The City - Why is Miéville ignored by some literary circles?
This book... oh dear. It's quite good and it's very hard to explain. What starts off seeming like a noir-ish crime novel or police procedural opens up and allows the reader to sort of play with what's happening in the reality of the story. Two city-states, somewhere in Europe, live within each other...
YouKneeK
YouKneeK rated it
3.5 Review: The City & the City
The City & the City is essentially a police procedural in a strange and interesting setting. The book opens up with our main character, Inspector Tyador Borlú, arriving onto the scene where a dead woman has been found. The story follows him as he attempts to solve the mystery. The setting intri...
Tower of Iron Will
Tower of Iron Will rated it
4.0 How to Be in Two Cities at Once
A murder mystery set in two cities that share the same geographic space. Beszel and Ul Qoma are two Balkan city states that just happen to be shuffled together like a deck of cards. This is not like East and West Berlin separated by a wall, or like Jerusalem with its various sectors. One house might...
Chris' Fish Place
Chris' Fish Place rated it
4.0 Re-read for UC Book Club
6/25/2016 - Reread for UC Book Club June 2016 selection.For me the brilliance of this book isn't the plot or the characters, many of whom are types and trophes. It is the idea of two cities in the same place, because it is in many ways so true. Most cities have at least two faces. In this book, the ...
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