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A review by everandvale
Manituana by Wu Ming
3.0
Actual rating: 3.5
Premise: I read this book in Italian so I don't know whether the English translation made it justice or not.
What I liked:
- the writing style! As always, Wu Ming's writing style is simultaneously atmospheric and straightforward. The linguistic choices they made are clever and translate well the difference between the characters' backgrounds (for example, the "London Indians" talk in a weird mixture of italianised English and dialects).
- the atmosphere is so vivid! I felt like I was there with the characters, especially when they went to London. The descriptions are clear and simple but some of the details are so specific that they make you wonder how much time Wu Ming spent researching on that time period.
What I didn't like:
- the plot was confusing. The narration jumped suddenly from one point to the other making it really hard to care for what was going on.
My expectations for Manituana were high because "L'Armata dei Sonnambuli" by Wu Ming (I don't think it has been translated in English) is one of my all time favourites. However, whereas in "L'armata dei Sonnambuli" the plot was cleverly constructed to warp up in a way you would have never expected in the beginning, "Manituana" set up an extraordinary plot and cast of characters but, in the end, didn't deliver.
Premise: I read this book in Italian so I don't know whether the English translation made it justice or not.
What I liked:
- the writing style! As always, Wu Ming's writing style is simultaneously atmospheric and straightforward. The linguistic choices they made are clever and translate well the difference between the characters' backgrounds (for example, the "London Indians" talk in a weird mixture of italianised English and dialects).
- the atmosphere is so vivid! I felt like I was there with the characters, especially when they went to London. The descriptions are clear and simple but some of the details are so specific that they make you wonder how much time Wu Ming spent researching on that time period.
What I didn't like:
- the plot was confusing. The narration jumped suddenly from one point to the other making it really hard to care for what was going on.
My expectations for Manituana were high because "L'Armata dei Sonnambuli" by Wu Ming (I don't think it has been translated in English) is one of my all time favourites. However, whereas in "L'armata dei Sonnambuli" the plot was cleverly constructed to warp up in a way you would have never expected in the beginning, "Manituana" set up an extraordinary plot and cast of characters but, in the end, didn't deliver.