You Feel It Just Below the Ribs [book, audiobook]
You Feel It Just Below the Ribs [book, audiobook]
I HAVE SUCH MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THIS NOW! I *LOVED* THIS BOOK, FOR 90% OF IT THIS WAS MY FAVORITE BOOK I'VE READ IN YEARS. IT'S A FICTIONAL NOVEL OF AN 80 YEAR OLD WOMAN IN THE 1990S WRITING HER LIFE STORY IN A WORLD WHERE WORLD WAR I STRETCHED ON FOR DECADES. SO IT'S GOT THIS UNRELIABLE NARRATOR THING OF BEING SOMEONE'S MEMORIES, BUT THEN THE FICTIONAL CONCEPT IS THE BOOK WE ARE ACTUALLY READING IS ACTUALLY A BOOK RELEASED SOMETIME YEARS AFTER THAT IS HEAVILY ANNOTATED BUT NOT CENSORED BY AN AMBIGUOUSLY EVIL ORGANIZATION CONNECTED TO THE EVENTS. THIS IS AN AMAZING STRUCTURE FOR A BOOK! IT'S VERY WELL WRITTEN AND IT'S NOT SO AMBIGUOUS YOU EVER FULLY DOUBT THE NARRATOR BUT THEY DO SUCH A GOOD JOB MAKING IT JUST AMBIGUOUS ENOUGH FOR MOST OF IT YOU DO KINDA WONDER ESPECIALLY ABOUT THE MORALITY AND NECESSITY OF THINGS.
BUT HERE IS THE THING. THIS IS WRITTEN BY THE AUTHORS OF "WITHIN THE WIRES", A PODCAST I HAVE ENCOUNTERED BUT NEVER REALLY ENGAGED WITH LISTENING TO. SO I KNEW THIS WAS EXTREMELY SIMILAR IN CONCEPT TO THAT. A BOOK VERSION OF THE PODCAST CONCEPT. BUT I DID NOT KNOW THIS WAS A STRAIGHT PREQUEL UNTIL NEAR THE END OF THE BOOK (IT'S NOT A TWIST TO FIND OUT, THEY EVEN SAY THE PHRASE 'WITHIN THE WIRES" IN THE BOOK, IT'S JUST MY DIM AWARENESS OF THE SERIES ONLY HIT THE CONNECTION WHEN THEY STARTED MAKING THE TAPES) AND I HATE HOW MUCH THAT SAPPED MY ENJOYMENT OF THIS. IT'S SO DUMB OF ME, IT'S NOT LIKE I DISLIKE THE PODCAST. IT'S SPECIFICALLY THAT BY MAKING THIS NOT IT'S OWN STAND ALONE THING IT MAKES EVERYTHING LESS AMBIGUOUS, ALL THE OFF SCREEN MYSTERY IS JUST ON ANOTHER SCREEN SOMEWHERE. I DON'T KNOW, IT'S DUMB HOW MUCH THAT DEFLATED MY ENJOYMENT. THE FACT IS, THE WHOLE CONCEPT OF WITHIN THE WIRES IS THE EXACT EXPERIENCE I HAD. I AM SURE THIS BOOK WAS A THOUSAND TIMES BETTER FOR ME TO READ THAN A FAN OF THE SERIES, AS THE WHOLE POINT OF THE SERIES IS TO LEARN ABOUT A FICTIONAL WORLD IN THIS TANGENTIAL WAY AND I'M SURE SEASON 5 IS ROBBED OF THE MYSTERY ELEMENT THAT I GOT TO READ THIS LATE INTO THE SERIES BOOK ALMOST TOTALLY INTACT.
I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY ABOUT THIS BOOK! I LIKE THIS BOOK SO MUCH! IT'S SO WELL WRITTEN, BUT THE PART I ENJOYED IS TAKEN AWAY BY THERE BEING MORE MATERIAL. BUT THIS IS THE EXPERIENCE A LISTENER TO THE PODCAST WAS SUPPOSED TO GET BACK WHEN IT WAS NEW AND THERE WAS NO ACCUMULATED LORE. SO I KINDA READ THE BEST POSSIBLE VERSION OF THIS BOOK BUT FEEL ANGRY SOMEONE ELSE MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO READ IT THE SAME WAY!
PS. IT'S FUNNY I NEVER ACTUALLY LISTENED TO THE SERIES BECAUSE I DID LISTEN TO THE FIRST TWO EPISODES OF THE SECOND SEASON (A MUSEUM AUDIO TOUR OF A FICTIONAL MUSEUM) WHILE IN A REAL WORLD MUSEUM AND I LOVED DOING THAT.
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