I read up to page 84 last night. I'm really not having a strong emotional reaction to it either way. I don't think it's boring; Junction is a pretty interesting town (and the way religion has evolved on the edge of hell is intriguing). Ned's an unlikeable asshole, though. I'm really hoping Ned and the bird-beast from hell that is currently residing in his brain become friends.
Jack Dann seems to be taking his sweet time setting up Junction, which is odd, seeing as Ned's New York-bound (according to the back cover). We're getting the social, political, geographical, and religious background for a town we're not even going to be spending much more time in. I guess it's so we get a better understanding of why Ned is such a dirtbag?
Also: whores. I cannot believe how many times this book mentions whores. It's almost comical; at certain points it seems like Dann just hasn't reached his whore-quota for the page and haphazardly tosses them in at the end of unsuspecting paragraphs.
2 comments:
I do like the warped version of religion - seeing how things become further and further removed/obscured and reinterpreted is always fascinating to me. (The holy glass thing is particularly interesting.) But Dann has to dwell more on the other aspects of the town (i.e. whores) and never explores the more complicated ideas he touches on.
Also, pg31: "When not working for his father, he spent his time whoring and Hellwatching - and the only women he befriended were whores. That made him very desirable." WHAT.
Because he... he knows how to treat a lady?
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