The City & The City: A Novel (Random House Reader's Circle)

"In the morning trains ran on a raised line meters from my window. They were not in my city. I did not of course, but I could have stared into their carriages - they were quite that close - and caught the eyes of foreign travelers."[Note: I generally try to avoid spoilers in my reviews, but The City and The City is a novel about shifting perspectives and, as such, I don't think that it would be possible to do anything more than a shallow overview without them, so be warned.]China Miéville is no stranger to anticlimaxes. To one degree or another, every one of us his Bas Lag novels have ended in one. The City and The City, however, takes things to a whole new level. The book is, essentially, composed of two massive anticlimaxes.The novel's main idea is the overlapping nature of the cities of Beszel and Ul Qoma. The two cities inhabit the same geographic coordinates, yet are actually disparate in location. Despite the fact that their streets overlap, a journey into Ul Qoma consists of passing through strictly guarded borders, rather than crossing to the next block. At first, the whole experience seems delightfully surreal. When the concepts were first introduced, in the opening chapters of the novel, I imagined it as if reality was frayed in the area, with buildings phasing in and out of existence depending on how much crossover there was in the area. At this point in the novel, the reader's main question is probably along the lines of how the two cities got to be the way they were, and how Breach - a secret police organization, of sorts, that brutally enforces the boundaries - manages to keep the two cities in line.As the novel progresses, these fantastic layers are stripped away one by one. Near the beginning, we are told that:"I lived east and south a bit of the old town...It is a heavily crosshatched street - clutch by clutch of architecture broken by alterity, even in a few spots house by house. The local buildings are taller by a floor or three than the [Ul Qoma] buildings, so Besz juts up semiregularly and the roofscape is almost a machicolation."At the time, it seems like this is an exceptional site, the occasion of the worst of the frayed-reality sites that I mentioned earlier (in my terminology, not Miéville's). As the book continues, however, we come to realize that every part of the city is crosshatched. We come to understand that every Besz building is also, to some degree or other, a part of the Ul Qoma landscape, that every square foot of Ul Qoma also exists in Besz and that there is no fundamental difference between the two. The act of "breaching," or travelling unauthorized from one to the other, is not one of violating a magical law, but rather the breaking of a social custom. Besz and Ul Qoma are the same city, they just like to pretend otherwise.It's commonly accepted that a large part of the allure of fantasy is the ability to deal with real world issues in a new way, analyzing concepts like race without the connotations that something like the Jim Crow Laws immediately drag into play. This is never put to better use than in The City and The City. The novel is about the incorporeal nature of the divides we put on ourselves. It is saying that the man next to us is, no matter what we think, actually not that different at all. By exaggerating our tendencies to stay within our social comfort zone to the point where we try our damndest to pretend any other doesn't exist, Miéville makes us realize the flaws in our own perceptions.Of course, such a thing could never work from the beginning of the novel. If The City and The City started with half the population simply ignoring the other half, we would find it ridiculous. Instead, the beginning implies that this all occurred in some fantastic, magical way, and that it is not the will of the individual occupants at all. Because of this, our initial transition into the world is a relatively easy one. As Miéville strips away the trappings of fantasy one by one, we are forced to recognize that he was talking about us all along.Unfortunately, though the focus shifts from who made it like this, there's nothing to make the question go away. If there was nothing otherworldly in its schizophrenic creation, why on earth have Beszel and Ul Qoma evolved the way that they have? The obsessive, unanimous, impossible drive that would be needed in the founding generation of such a place is something that I can't conceive of. The city initially works as a storytelling device and gradually changes over to a thematic one, but the transformation to the latter effectively hamstrings the former.That is only one of a few similar issues in the novel. In the beginning, Breach seems omnipotent in their ability to enforce the laws. Later, we discover that they have no superpowers at all. This is a necessary realization; a supernatural dividing force would be a bullet to the heart of the novel's themes. That doesn't mean that it makes any sense, however. If Breach is a police organization made exceptional only by their ability to traverse the boundaries, how can they appear at the scene of a cross-city accident in seconds?The second great anticlimax of the novel deals with the plot of the story, and it goes hand in hand with the steady debunking of the city's wonders. For the novel's first sections, the mystery grows ever more complex. Eventually, it seems obvious that the force behind the throne, so to speak, is the mythic Orciny, a third city that is believed to be long extinct. Through tantalizing hints and small clues, Miéville builds our expectations of Orciny up to a fever pitch.And then, in the same way that the fantastical nature of the cities was orchestrated to collapse from the word go, the entire thing turns out to be a very human puzzle, and it is backed by a very human evil. To a degree, this accomplishes the same slow but inevitable shift of perceptions that the change in world building does. At first, we need to feel no responsibility for the increasingly sinister shape that the conspiracy is taking. It is Orciny, a direct product of the bizarre, irreproducible structure of the cities. It turns out, however, that there is no supernatural agency in play at all; in fact, the whole thing is a literal example of the real world's intrusion into the oddities of Beszel/Ul Qoma.What is interesting from a thematic point of view, however, is not necessarily interesting form a plot point of view. After having Orciny built up for so long, it turns out to be nothing but the creation of an all but absent side character. Instead of a mind blowing revelation, the book's climax takes the form of a long speech, in which Inspector Borlu reveals every piece of the puzzle, a scene that serves primarily to emphasize the underlying mundane nature of the whole book. Fascinating? Yes. Rewarding? No.Any book that shifts our perceptions to such a degree could be hard to relate to, and The City and The City does much to magnify the problem. The book is written, as opposed to Miéville's Bas Lag novels, in a very cinematic and understated prose style. Events are reported in a matter of fact way, with a minimum of stylistic flourishes. We see the actions of Inspector Borlu from the outside enough to get an idea of who he is, but we never get to see under the hood and learn what really makes him tick. The experience feels like following him from directly over his shoulder. We see what he sees, and we hear what he hears, but we never know what he's thinking.There has been much debate over whether The City and The City is a speculative work at all. Now, as I've repeated for much of the review, The City and The City has very, very few (if any) speculative elements. That being said, it reads as if it were a speculative novel for the vast majority of its length, and so I think that it should be undoubtedly counted as one. Let's take one of Miéville's earlier works. Perdido Street Station is undeniably speculative in nature, but what if, at the very end, someone in New York City had woken up and remarked upon the strange dream that they'd just had? The novel would then contain no speculative elements whatsoever, but would anyone really say that it was not a speculative novel? Though the degree is obviously quite different here, I think that the question of genre is one determined more by form and style than by literal content, and I think that The City and The City dons far more than enough of a genre costume for it to be considered beside Miéville's other works.In the end, The City and The City is a novel that is easier to admire than it is to enjoy. It is, at times, a page turner, but visceral pleasure and intellectual interest are in an inverse proportion here. When the novel feels like a fantastic mystery, you find yourself compulsively reading on, but unable to even begin to answer the myriad questions posed by the novel's setting. When those questions are answered, however, the revelation sucks away much of the book's thrill. The City and The City is something that I recommend to every genre fan, but it is not something that I can consider Miéville's best work.

The City and the City is an interesting book for the speculative fiction genre. It places a traditional murder mystery in a very complicated and nuanced background. This book has a double thrill of figuring out who the killer is and what would it be like to live in this interesting setting. The author, China Miéville, does not hold your hand as he walks you through this new world but hits you right on the first page and quickly immerses you in both this new and exciting world and the murder mystery plot of a young girl. Because the mystery is the best part of this book I will try to keep references to specifics in the book short and talk more about some of the themes of speculative fiction that this book grows out of, as well as some of the important over all themes that the book presents itself. The City and the City does a good job of immersing us in the details of a new place. Since the onset of globalization, readers have been unimpressed when references to different places are vague and general. Readers like to have something concrete and nuanced, something that is different. The book takes place in two cities Beszel and Ul Qoma, they have a strange and interesting past and share any even stranger border and relationship. The back-story and depth that these imaginary cities have is a very important part of the story. The reader's yearning for uniqueness and specificity is fulfilled by this beautiful and interesting setting. Miévile also continues in the line of speculative fiction in that he leaves some things unexplained and allows the reader to figure things out by themselves. There are several details that even at the end are left not completely resolved. Nothing kills imagination and speculation like too complete of an explanation. The explanation does not always come as soon as the reader would like it with several important concepts used but not really defined or fleshed out until later. This makes the world and story all the more interesting and keeps you reading till the end to figure out how all of the pieces work together. The City and the City uses a couple of foreign language terms and terms that are specific to the book. This trend of using foreign language skills is similar to the use of foreign language terms by Paolo Bacigalupi in The Windup Girl. In both cases the terms are not directly defined and the reader is forced to learn what the words mean through their context and use. This makes the reading difficult at the beginning but much more rewarding by the end. The words are able to mean exactly what the author intends. The biggest and most important theme that I think the book pursues is the theme that is at the heart of speculative fiction; extrapolating current trends in social problems and seeing where those trends lead us down the road. This theme changes the purpose of speculative fiction from a form of escapism and fantasy to a kind of moral proclamation that challenges us to think critically about what kind of world we would like to live in, in the future. One of these more moral issues that I think is explored in this book is the idea of a positive versus a negative peace between two different countries. Again I will not mention specifics because I think that would rob the reader of the wonderful experience of going through and figuring this book out on their own. I will however say that after finishing the book I was left with the feeling that reconciliation and mutual interaction and communication is necessary for countries to really get a long together. There is more to peace than simply living next to each other and not fighting. Peace means that there are not bad feelings from past grievances and that there is a plan to work together in the future and plans to engage with one another in discussions and discourse. The book reminds me a lot about the current problems between Israel and Palestine. They are fighting over claims to the same land and it seems impossible that they could both be happy. Maybe it could be possible that they could both have access to Jerusalem but the city could be cut up in such a way that Palestinians never had to see Israelis and the Israelis never had to see any Palestinians. Although this would be a very complicated and elaborate process and would be a great improvement from the current situation it seems like this would still not be a place where true peace existed. Imagine them living right next to each other but having no feelings of compassion or empathy for the other. Every time an Israeli sees a Palestinian they quickly turn a way as if the Palestinian didn't exist. This does not seem like a flourishing way to live a life. Perhaps the author did not intend the allegory that I have portrayed but it seemed like a very strong one that stood out in the book. I am not saying that the cultural heritage of both Palestine and Israel should not be protected but I think there needs to be a chance for them to work together in the future. Maybe I am just an idealist and there is no place for that in the world of international politics. But I do think that one of the important roles of speculative fiction is to project an image that allows us to evaluate it and see if it is an ideal worth striving for. Another way that speculative fiction can work is portray an image that we think should be a goal but show several key ways in which it is lacking. These areas in which it is lacking can positively guide us in the future. I think The City and the City is a very interesting book and provides a new take on speculative fiction by taking on the plot structure of a traditional murder mystery. The mystery of the setting is almost as interesting as the murder itself and may provide an interesting perspective on what it means for countries to be at peace with one another.

Great read, a little confused at the beginning. Took sometime to get bearings, but once I did I was hardly put the book down.

I can’t believe it’s eight years since I bought and read this book, and now I return to it again having seen the fantastic 4 part BBC adaptation starring David Morrissey (Between the Lines), Maria Schrader (Deutschland 83) and Paprika Steen (Below the Surface). I could add more names but this review is for the book.The concept of two cities that run parallel and never cross was for me a tricky thing to get my head around. I thought it was just me, but having read some of the more negative reviews, it’s clear that others struggled a bit, too. However, one thing I grasped pretty quickly was that this was a very special book and definitely worth the perseverance. I agree with another reviewer who says that it is a political novel. I also think that you have to be politically minded to engage with it. The idea that there is this other world which runs parallel with your own and only crosses over when something happens to disrupt the status quo is very poignant. Take a look at the stories currently dominating the news: how a person’s life can change forever on the flip of a coin.Of course we all come to this novel with our own preconceptions. To have read it in 2010, would have to already experienced the global near financial meltdown. See my review of Gordon Brown’s autobiography, whom as it happens, David Morrissey portrayed in the 2003 film The Deal.So how does the book compare with the adaptation, and which should you look at first? I think it helped to be familiar with the novel because I was curious as to how these two worlds would be portrayed, and for me the transfer from book to screen was an almost perfect project. The idea of ‘unseeing’ something was again a concept I struggled with, but on the screen it works so well. An extra character is added to the film version, and I am not going to spoil it for you by saying anything more.

The premise of the story in this novel is exceptionally intriguing. In concept, it feels like an Orwellian tale set against a surreal mash-up of Jerusalem and walled Berlin. The murder that kicks things off, and the machinations of Breach, are fascinating. However, the prose is so heavily stylised (and I'm being charitable by using the term stylised) that reading the novel is like swimming through treacle. It is verbose, clumsy, and the dialogue in particular is so ... turgid ... especially ... with all the ellipses ... that I wanted to ... pull my own teeth out while ... reading. Additionally, the characters don't do justice to the concept. In fact, there is only really one character; the protagonist, with the remaining cast being little more than glove puppets. It actually makes me angry that such a brilliant concept could be so badly executed. I'm in no doubt however that there will be plenty of readers seeing the Emperor's new clothes where I can detect only a void.

I really battled with the beginning of this book, mainly because the names are non- familiar so it was hard to keep track of them.I'm glad I stuck with it because I really got into it about one third of the way through.I'd never heard of the author and couldn't even tell what genre it is, because it's fantasy that's frighteningly close to reality.While the detective story plot is somewhat far fetched, over complex and incomprehensible, the main show is really the description of the invented world of two cities adjacent to one another which have learned to coexist via some bizarre but believable protocols.Incredibly the end is actually moving ( although it was predictable) and the book leaves an indelible memory and is recommended.

There’s no denying Miéville’s intelligence, ingenuity, and imagination: THE CITY AND THE CITY has at its core one of the most original concepts I’ve encountered in a long time. And he imbues his enigmatic world with a wonderful sense of elusive, arcane mystery. Comparisons with Kafka and Philip K. Dick are sometimes made when it comes to Miéville’s work and it’s easy to see why. This is, however, a little misleading as Miéville has a style and authority all of his own. His prose is assured and artful, although he does, at times, indulge a fondness for abstruse vocabulary, which might put some readers off. I enjoyed the TCATC but I still have reservations. For me the use of a whodunit structure was the book’s weakness. The police investigation never really gripped me as much as I would have liked and I was left with the sense that such a creative concept as that deployed here would have been better served by another narrative framework. That said, it’s evident that Miéville is a considerable talent, and I look forward to reading more of his work.3.5/5

I know the trend in modern fiction is not to explain anything but just write, include esoteric or invented terms and just expect the reader to pick it up as they go along, but this novel takes it to extremes. I just can’t get my head around exactly what the relationship is between these two cities and aspects of the plot are extremely confusing. I have persisted with the book so far (I’m about 60% through) but I’m not sure if I can be bothered to finish it because none of the characters are well-drawn and frankly, I just don’t care who committed the murder or why. Disappointed.