Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
Beneath the towering bleached ribs of a dead, ancient beast lies the city of New Crobuzon, where the unsavory deal is stranger to no one–not even to Isaac, a gifted and eccentric scientist who has spent a lifetime quietly carrying out his unique research. But when a half-bird, half-human creature known as the Garuda comes to him from afar, Isaac is faced with challenges he has never before encountered. Though the Garuda’s request is scientifically daunting, Isaac is sparked by his own curiosity and an uncanny reverence for this curious stranger. Soon an eerie metamorphosis will occur that will permeate every fiber of New Crobuzon–and not even the Ambassador of Hell will challenge the malignant terror it evokes.
For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)
The Reason
This has been on my TBR for years and years and years! It was recently a buddy read so I thought it was a good time to finally read it.
The Quotes
“Art is something you choose to make… it’s a bringing together of… of everything around you into something that makes you more human, more khepri, whatever. More of a person.”
“I wish that there was nothing to hold me here, that gravity was a suggestion I could ignore.”
“She was intelligent enough to realize that her excitement was childish, but not mature enough to care.”
“Old stories would tell how Weavers would kill each other over aesthetic disagreements, such as whether it was prettier to destroy an army of a thousand men or to leave it be, or whether a particular dandelion should or should not be plucked. For a Weaver, to think was to think aesthetically. To act–to Weave–was to bring about more pleasing patterns. They did not eat physical food: they seemed to subsist on the appreciation of beauty.”
My Thoughts
I tried reading this book twice before, both times on audio, and found that I couldn’t follow it because of the made-up words, names, and places. I always meant to try again with a printed copy, and I finally did this time. I got so much more out of it; more understanding, more immersion, more focus. And the buddy read with the ongoing discussions were a huge part of my experience as well.
Where do I even start, this book is huge with so many different elements to talk about! The worldbuilding, the exploration of different species and the way they live and work together, the criminal world – the petty criminals and crime lords being worlds apart as well, the government and the enforcers and spies, the remade, the Weaver, the AI constructs, the moths! It seems like a lot and yet, it feels so natural, like I can believe that this world exists, and I can see why Mieville is in a league of his own, this is a masterpiece!
It started out slow but it was still so interesting because there was so much to explore about this world and the characters. And even though it was slow, I could already feel the tension building from the beginning, and then all of a sudden everything happened all at once and it was just nonstop tension. I honestly don’t think I could talk about how amazing it was to see every single thing unfold the way they did and how I felt. It got so intense towards the end and I have so many feelings, I’m still processing.
I know this is definitely going to be one of those books where I get something new out of it every time I reread it again and I’m looking forward to that (though not anytime soon!). I wanted to give up on the book so many times because it’s so huge and I’m going through some really hectic times but I’m glad I persevered and finished! It’s completely worth it!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?