Palimpsest by Catherynne M Valente
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Review by A. Black
Sei, November, Ludov, and Oleg -- four people unknown to each other but united by grief and their obsession with the city of Palimpsest. Located beyond the human realm, Palimpsest is accessible only by those who sleep after generating the energy which comes from sex. Once anyone arrives in the city, they indulge in sense pleasures and are able to obtain their innermost desires -- two things which ensure that Palimpsest visitors return.
When they awake from their surreal adventure and return to reality, Palimpsest visitors' only evidence that what they've experienced is not just a dream, is the new tattoos which mark their bodies. And with each return visit, the tattoos grow, eventually depicting a map of each neighborhood in the city.
Like its namesake Palimpsest (diverse layers), the city is indeed complex with many hidden aspects beneath its surreal landscape. Magical images reminiscent of the "Alice in Wonderland" fantasy create a surreal reading experience. It's as if someone engineered the city -- inhibited by mechanical bugs and conjoined human animal-beings -- based on a blueprint of adult hopes and wishes. If you want to be seduced by an beautiful and sensuous fantasy world, look no farther than Palimpsest.
Like other Cathryn Valente books (Orphan's Tales, In the Garden of Coin and Spice), this poignant poetic work is a feast for the mind. Palimpsest is the gift of a fairy tale wrapped in an allegory and tied with a mystical ribbon. A gift that readers can enjoy again and again.
Palimpsest (Amazon.co.uk)
Author: Catherynne Valente
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 384
Publication date: 2009-02-24
Publisher: Spectra Books
RRP: £9.29
Lowest new price: £4.70
Lowest used price: £6.80
Palimpsest (Amazon.com)
Author: Catherynne Valente
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 384
Publication date: 2009-02-24
Publisher: Spectra
RRP: $14.00
Lowest new price: $5.79
Lowest used price: $7.96
In the Cities of Coin and Spice and In the Night Garden introduced readers to the unique and intoxicating imagination of Catherynne M. Valente. Now she weaves a lyrically erotic spell of a place where the grotesque and the beautiful reside and the passport to our most secret fantasies begins with a stranger's kiss..
Between life and death, dreaming and waking, at the train stop beyond the end of the world is the city of Palimpsest. To get there is a miracle, a mystery, a gift, and a curse-a voyage permitted only to those who've always believed there's another world than the one that meets the eye. Those fated to make the passage are marked forever by a map of that wondrous city tattooed on their flesh after a single orgasmic night. To this kingdom of ghost trains, lion-priests, living kanji, and cream-filled canals come four travelers: Oleg, a New York locksmith; the beekeeper November; Ludovico, a binder of rare books; and a young Japanese woman named Sei. They've each lost something important-a wife, a lover, a sister, a direction in life-and what they will find in Palimpsest is more than they could ever imagine.
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