Palimpsest: A Novel

by Catherynne Valente

In the Cities of Coin and Spice and In the Night Garden introduced readers to the unique and intoxicating imagination of Catherynne M. Valente. Now she weaves a lyrically erotic spell of a place where the grotesque and the beautiful reside and the passport to our most secret fantasies begins with a stranger’s kiss.…

Between life and death, dreaming and waking, at the train stop beyond the end of the world is the city of Palimpsest. To get there is a miracle, a mystery, a gift, and a curse—a voyage permitted only to those who’ve always believed there’s another world than the one that meets the eye. Those fated to make the passage are marked forever by a map of that wondrous city tattooed on their flesh after a single orgasmic night. To this kingdom of ghost trains, lion-priests, living kanji, and cream-filled canals come four travelers: Oleg, a New York locksmith; the beekeeper November; Ludovico, a binder of rare books; and a young Japanese woman named Sei. They’ve each lost something important—a wife, a lover, a sister, a direction in life—and what they will find in Palimpsest is more than they could ever imagine.

• ISBN10: 0553385763
• ISBN13: 9780553385762
• Publish Date: 24 February 2009 (first published 1 January 2009)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 25 September 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Random House Inc
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780553385762

Reviews

[empressbrooke]

I'd been having a string of good luck with Valente's books, but I almost abandoned this one. The language is so dream-like that it didn't stick in my mind at all. Much like a dream, it quickly slipped from my memory as I went and I had to keep going back to re-read chapters to figure out who was who and what had happened to them so far. Finally right at the 40% mark things started sticking and it was easier to retain what has passed.

However, being able to remember everything didn't really improve matters. At times I felt like I could give this three stars, but overall it was not something I would recommend (unless you're that friend of mine who has opposite tastes in books than I do, check this one out!). It went on and on and never really felt like it got anywhere. The characters were all just a little too precious and - to use a word I don't, usually - twee. One buys a couch because it's the exact shade of a pecan and then sleeps on it naked for three nights to absorb the color into her skin, or somesuch nonsense.

If you're looking to try Valente, I have to point you towards [b:Radiance|18490533|Radiance|Catherynne M. Valente|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412283972s/18490533.jpg|26174247] instead, that one was magnificent and much more coherent.