Book Report

[stillsostrange]

Starfish, by Peter Watts

Oh the Shiny, oh the good.

I cannot remember the last time I read a book and never once felt the urge to grab a red pen. Never once thought that's clunky. Never once wanted to underline or mark through or generally destroy at least one sentence. This Golden Age of reading fell before I started workshopping, critting, writing and rewriting and picking through everything I read like a vulture (or a lit student, but is there really a difference?).

I'm not sure I've ever seen prose as clean as Watts'. Nothing wasted, no scaffolding, nothing cluttering up the flow of words, sentences, story. But the economy loses nothing of description or characterization. I hear metal groan under atmospheres of pressure, feel the cold and the heat, the weight and buoyancy of the water. I feel that chemical rush when a light cuts through the dark and you see teeth. The characters make me hurt in all the right places.

So, um, yeah--I like it lots. A report on Maelstrom will hopefully follow soon.

Comments

[cricketshay.livejournal.com]

*adds to my must read list* I'll let you know what I think after I read it. =)

[cricketshay.livejournal.com]

O.k. since I had never heard of Peter Watts(I've never read much sci-fic) I had to google him. I read a snippet of his work and wow. You are right. His is the next book I plan on buying. Thanks Anmanda for pointing me is his direction.

[the-numinous-1.livejournal.com]

I loved Starfish - it's a beautifully written book. I have to get off my butt and get the other two books.

[ultharkitty.livejournal.com]

This is one I must read, on the strength of everything you've said about it *adds it to list, but a lot further up than everything else*