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A review by ceridwenanne
The Investigation by Stanisław Lem
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I got all excited when I read a description of Stanislaw Lem's The Investigation, and it implied there were undead zombie-type resurrected corpses. Which is kinda true? But then the novel ended up being this completely wild deconstruction of the police procedural mixed with Gormenghast-ish Gothic weirdness.
I had a lot of difficulty with how dated the novel was. Sometimes I would only understand the subtext of a converstion much later, and took an embarrassingly long time to figure out the main character, the ambitious detective put on a case he cannot possibly solve, was a satirical creature and an object of ridicule. Once I kenned to it, Lem's criticism of institutional policing is pretty thorough, but then livened up with his sly, dry humor.
There' s also not an insignificant amount of the grotesque, especially in the lieutenant's living situation, enough that I wondered if Lem wasn't taking a shot at the English gothic tradition. (The novel is set in and around London, and I don't know how much time Lem actually spent in Brittain.)
Not quite what I was expecting, but then I also should have expected Lem to pull something that bizarre and thinky.
I had a lot of difficulty with how dated the novel was. Sometimes I would only understand the subtext of a converstion much later, and took an embarrassingly long time to figure out the main character, the ambitious detective put on a case he cannot possibly solve, was a satirical creature and an object of ridicule. Once I kenned to it, Lem's criticism of institutional policing is pretty thorough, but then livened up with his sly, dry humor.
There' s also not an insignificant amount of the grotesque, especially in the lieutenant's living situation, enough that I wondered if Lem wasn't taking a shot at the English gothic tradition. (The novel is set in and around London, and I don't know how much time Lem actually spent in Brittain.)
Not quite what I was expecting, but then I also should have expected Lem to pull something that bizarre and thinky.