This Census Taker, China Mieville

So this is not Mieville at his breathtaking best (Embassytown or City &the City), when he manages to focus on something and punch you with it. And it's also not Mieville in exuberant kitchen-sink mode (Bas-Lag books, Kraken) where the entire contents of his most recent ideas notebook are getting dumped in the stew. This Census Taker isn't really like anything I've seen out of Mieville before - unexpectedly sparse, intensely atmospheric, cryptic and disturbing. Mieville famously once claimed he was going to write a novel in every genre, and I think this is his take on horror. Much more spoilery discussion behind the cut below. But first, would I recommend it? I'm not sure. I think it's an *interesting* work, and goddamn can Mieville write and sustain a mood, but it's also frustrating. More like something you'd write a lit paper about than a fun bit of genre reading. My lit paper below. :) (And vocab list, maybe, Mieville makes me resort to the dictionary more than any other author. Vatic, pinchbeck, bibelots, scends.) But first, a general content spoiler, for anyone who might consider reading it but would want to be warned about certain subjects: animal harm, domestic violence.

I'm not kidding about spoilers below. Spoilers for everything.
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