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Too Much Richness
Sep. 1st, 2007 05:39 pmJuly 2007
River of Gods - Ian McDonald - Pocket Books, 2005
* * *
As I have remarked before, reward-to-effort ratios are a fundamental determinant of human behaviour and they apply to reading just as much as anything else. Any book that demands concentrated effort from its readers has to deliver a commensurate reward, in the originality of its insights, depth of characterisation or ingenuity of its plot. With nine intertwining story lines told from nine different viewpoints, River of Gods is certainly a complex and challenging read, and in some respects it repays the effort invested. In others, however, it doesn’t.
( Read more... )
River of Gods - Ian McDonald - Pocket Books, 2005
* * *
As I have remarked before, reward-to-effort ratios are a fundamental determinant of human behaviour and they apply to reading just as much as anything else. Any book that demands concentrated effort from its readers has to deliver a commensurate reward, in the originality of its insights, depth of characterisation or ingenuity of its plot. With nine intertwining story lines told from nine different viewpoints, River of Gods is certainly a complex and challenging read, and in some respects it repays the effort invested. In others, however, it doesn’t.
( Read more... )