I can forgive it the early chapters being a bit hand-heldy, as it's a complex world he's about to drop on us, and I think jumping straight in might just be too confusing, and lessen the impact.
Funny, I thought of it as the very opposite of hand-holdy. Borlú has no reason to remark on the strangest things in his world because they feel completely natural to him, which is why he describes these INCREDIBLY WEIRD DETAILS in such a detached, passive way. He focuses on his job -- which is the one thing that is not weird to a real-world reader -- and the rest we have to pick up in snatches. I thought it was a brilliant move on Miéville's part; the first time I think I detected something strange was when he said near the end of an early chapter "I saw a woman who wasn't there, and we both looked away." I was screeching WTFWTFWTF at the page, but Borlú saw no reason to enlighten me until much much later, and that only because he is forced by circumstances to deal with outsiders.
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Date: 2011-12-07 03:39 am (UTC)Funny, I thought of it as the very opposite of hand-holdy. Borlú has no reason to remark on the strangest things in his world because they feel completely natural to him, which is why he describes these INCREDIBLY WEIRD DETAILS in such a detached, passive way. He focuses on his job -- which is the one thing that is not weird to a real-world reader -- and the rest we have to pick up in snatches. I thought it was a brilliant move on Miéville's part; the first time I think I detected something strange was when he said near the end of an early chapter "I saw a woman who wasn't there, and we both looked away." I was screeching WTFWTFWTF at the page, but Borlú saw no reason to enlighten me until much much later, and that only because he is forced by circumstances to deal with outsiders.