That Which Shiri Is Reading
I will not lie, my dears, ’tis a weighty tome. Seriously, it takes up most of my backpack’s interior.
River of Gods is not a quick, fluffy read. Weaving through nine stories simultaneously takes a bit of dedication and you will get lost. Lost as I always image I’d be if I found myself in India. Which I hope someday to do. It is a wonderful sort of lost., full of impossible colors and strange songs, and spices.
Rarely have I read a book following so many characters that manages to connect the reader to each of them, to keep said reader engaged with every single one of them in turn and all together as representative of a nation, a larger story, the future of humanity.
The narration/plot style is something very special as well: a melding of traditional Indian-novel prose style with near-future speculative fiction plot; two exotic flavors at seeming odds but, when perfectly blended as they are by McDonald, taste great together. Think Rushdie and Asimov in a blender with some ice, durian, and vodka on a hot summer day.
I have a couple hundred pages left to go, but shall go out on a limb and recommend River of Gods. Highly. The word-porn version of the British slow-burn television drama.
Try it. You’ll like it.
(addendum: ‘Kay. It’s been about 12 hours since I wrote the post and I’ve finished the book. Totally blown away. I stand by the above and add GO GET IT NOW!)
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