A review by verkisto
The Crook Factory by Dan Simmons
4.0
It's no secret that Dan Simmons does a lot of research before writing a book. It's no secret because Simmons lets you know throughout the book that he did that research, because if he found some interesting factoid that's only tangentially related to the story, it's going to go into the narrative. It's both the best and the worst thing about reading a Simmons novel, because while it definitely adds something to the story, all of it together bloats up the book something awful.
Interestingly, Simmons paraphrases one of Hemingway's adages about writing -- it should be like an iceberg, where only 1/8th of the story should be visible -- but doesn't quite seem to do it himself. This is ironic, but not so much as Simmons also paraphrasing Hemingway's feelings about ending a novel, during the two epilogues that seem superfluous.
While I was reading it, I started doing a little research of my own to see how much of the story is factual, and I ran across something Simmons said about the novel, that it's 95% factual. At the time, I found myself wondering why Simmons didn't just write a nonfiction book about it, but later in the story, he paraphrases Hemingway again, having him talk about why he writes fiction instead of nonfiction. There, readers, was my answer, and I was okay with it.
The story isn't really quite four stars for me, because it feels overlong and over-detailed, but neither is it just a three-star book. I can't round it down for its faults, because despite those faults, it's still a Dan Simmons book, which means it's compelling, interesting, and thoughtful. I prefer his genre stories to his history stories, but I can't deny he's a good writer, no matter what he writes.
2020 Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book set in a country beginning with "C"
Interestingly, Simmons paraphrases one of Hemingway's adages about writing -- it should be like an iceberg, where only 1/8th of the story should be visible -- but doesn't quite seem to do it himself. This is ironic, but not so much as Simmons also paraphrasing Hemingway's feelings about ending a novel, during the two epilogues that seem superfluous.
While I was reading it, I started doing a little research of my own to see how much of the story is factual, and I ran across something Simmons said about the novel, that it's 95% factual. At the time, I found myself wondering why Simmons didn't just write a nonfiction book about it, but later in the story, he paraphrases Hemingway again, having him talk about why he writes fiction instead of nonfiction. There, readers, was my answer, and I was okay with it.
The story isn't really quite four stars for me, because it feels overlong and over-detailed, but neither is it just a three-star book. I can't round it down for its faults, because despite those faults, it's still a Dan Simmons book, which means it's compelling, interesting, and thoughtful. I prefer his genre stories to his history stories, but I can't deny he's a good writer, no matter what he writes.
2020 Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book set in a country beginning with "C"