Asakiyume mita

Sadly, I did not! It's interesting to think about where one (in this case I) draw lines. For instance, I was reading Ada Palmer's Too Like the Lightning, whose main narrator was interesting--and then when key and surprising information came to light, it was almost too much. But not quite. I continued reading, and the story continued interesting--I liked it. But I didn't trust that there wasn't going to be more of that **tenor** of stuff in subsequent books, and though I enjoyed the first, I haven't been back for the others.

The thing I keep on coming back to with Avice is her--as it reads to me--apparent lack of engagement with life. Apparently she *is* involved--enough to feel sad, the way she describes--and yet for me, most of the events leading up to that sadness, she described with detachment and with mild interest at best. She's suffered a big trauma in her childhood--something deliberately inflicted on her--and it's affected her .... but we only hear about its effect really once. It's as if to show how painful it was and how avoidant she is, Miéville decided never ever to address it.. which isn't a great way to explore that. And that's the only reason I can think of for Avice's lack of emotional involvement. She has (at various points) a husband, lovers, friends, and alien encounters, but you might as well say she has two pairs of shoes, a refrigerator, and a long commute for the amount of impact those things seem to have on her.