Kat

This book touts itself as a scientific look at the mechanism of love in the human animal. It's a little fruity at the beginning and end, but there was some good stuff in the middle. I give it 4/5 for its theories about limbic resonance, which I found very interesting (from a poetic perspective if nothing else).

I have no illusions that this novel isn't flawed (to say nothing of its author) but I've loved it beyond reason since the first time I read it, and every time since. The best word I have for it is “luminous”: every sentence, every character is radiant, filled with light. It's vast and grandiose and full of magic and strangeness and sentimentality, and I find new things in it with every rereading. The romances, the passions of the characters, the courage of the white horse, the visions of the city and its machines, even the beauty of winter; it all moves me deeply and seems imbued with meaning. There are parts that have always made me cry and parts that I want to read aloud to those I love the most. There are scenes I feel so vividly and so deeply that it's almost as though I experienced them myself. To me, it's a work of genuine spiritual significance.

I honestly can't remember why I liked this when I read it in high school. So. Depressing. And the protagonist is not even a real person, with actual emotions and motives you could relate to. I mean. I know that's also the point, but still. This book just makes me angry.

The last story, titled “Another Story, or A Fisherman of the Inland Sea”, is one of my favorites, and if I could rate just that, would get five stars.

The rest of the stories are good but not fantastic.

Kind of fun little puzzles, and Snicket clearly had fun writing them. From reading other reviews, I guess I might have gotten more out of this if I'd read All The Wrong Questions.

Merged review:

Kind of fun little puzzles, and Snicket clearly had fun writing them. From reading other reviews, I guess I might have gotten more out of this if I'd read All The Wrong Questions.