Sunday, August 26 2007 14:20:00 GMT
Reading (finished): The Book of the Dead
Tags: [ reading ]I just completed reading The Book of the Dead(from cover to cover) and must say the book was a great read. Having not read the second book of the trilogy there were a few instances I was curious for more information on the characters. But, as explained at the very end of the book each of works with contain Pendergast are not dependant on one another. Every book should be able to be read as a single piece.
Some facts and pieces of the book I particularly enjoyed were:
NO SPOILERS BUT I SUGGEST READING THE BOOK BEFORE YOU READ MY NOTES
- Constance's deft determination and single-mindedness later in the story. The description of her movements and utter focus to the task at hand is really breath-taking.
- The act by which Pendergast opens the book in the library hoping the book will open itself to the most previous page read. I thought this was very interesting because on one occassion 3/4 of the way through the book I dropped it spine up. I quickly picked up the book and let the book open itself up before looking at the page, the book opened to a page approximately 5 to 10 pages of where I was (it was a little further). In a book that contains 601 pages, thats not to shabby.
- Constance's long pursuit was a riveting journey and I really liked how we got her perspective of the task at hand. The realization she sees that a pursuit is nothing like the dramatization found in movies.
- I was really intrigued by the Tibetan references throughout the book and the teaser chapter to The Wheel of Darkness found at the end of the novel.
- I wonder if Diogenes had similar martial fighting training as his brother (I suppose at this point I'll never know)
I can understand how somebody like Pendergast is so great at many things (a genius) but yet fail so completely at a few key events/tasks at his life. This theme can be seen in everyday life such as Mother Teresa's personal letters. I think its very real-world circumstances such as these that bring a practical, everyday/anybody, aspect to these stories.
The suggested reading order for Pendergast books is:
- Relic
- Reliquary
- The Cabinet of Curiosities
- Still Life with Crows
- Brimstone
- Dance of Death
- Book of the Dead
- The Wheel of Darkness [TBR]
- various supporting characters are built up throughout these books. Also a few of their non-Pendergast books contain yet more characters introduced later in the selected works (such as Nora). This reading order can be found at the end of The Book of the Dead.
Perhaps I should go back to the beginning and read them all :D
