Lisa

One of the most beautiful books I've ever read.

A bit of a doorstop, I read this one in fits and starts over a month. The novel is set up as historical speculative fiction and concerns what the world would be like if European culture had been eradicated by the plague. The reader experiences this world through the centuries in the voice of different characters who are the same reincarnated souls.

I wish I could read it again for the first time.

One of my friends told me to read this as less of a novel and more of a thought experiment and that really helped. This was such a fascinating concept to me and the contrast between the Foundation and the civilizations which surround it was super interesting through the progression of time. It's extremely dialog driven, which felt tedious in the last installment.

Talk about a book that absolutely bombs the Bechdel test though. Whew. One female character in the entire book and she's a shrill wife with about four lines.

3.5 stars, prob being generous because it's a classic (shouldn't do that, I know). I cannot wait to see the TV treatment of this.