The Last Days of New Paris

China Miéville
The Last Days of New Paris Cover

The Last Days of New Paris

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1/18/2017
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Readers who are fans of Lovecraft, or Surrealism, or VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, may enjoy this

Synopsis: In 1941, an "S-blast" is set off in Nazi-occupied Paris. Nine years later, a Surrealism expert who is a member of the Resistance movement lives a hellish existence in a city overrun with living Surrealist entities, and demons conjured by the Nazis in an attempt to fight back.

What I thought: This story definitely falls into the category of The New Weird. The plot here (such as it is) is merely a vehicle for the vivid imagery and nonsensical occurrences. Readers who are fans of Lovecraft, or Surrealism, or VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, may very well enjoy this. It was a bit too much of The New Weird for my tastes. I would say that this is definitely a "Marmite" story--readers will likely either love it or hate it.

There is a "Notes" section, keyed by page number, describing the origin of each of the Surrealist manifestations. Readers may wish to flip back to this each time one appears in the story, as I think it will enhance the appreciation of the imagery. Simultaneous access to Google to look up the referenced images would probably enhance appreciation, as well.