The Last Days of New Paris

The Last Days of New Paris by China Mieville.  205 pages.

I usually have no problem writing a summary of a book. However, this time, I am bowing out and giving in to using Goodreads.  "1941. In the chaos of wartime Marseilles, American engineer—and occult disciple—Jack Parsons stumbles onto a clandestine anti-Nazi group, including Surrealist theorist André Breton. In the strange games of the dissident diplomats, exiled revolutionaries, and avant-garde artists, Parsons finds and channels hope. But what he unwittingly unleashes is the power of dreams and nightmares, changing the war and the world forever.

1950. A lone Surrealist fighter, Thibault, walks a new, hallucinogenic Paris, where Nazis and the Résistance are trapped in unending conflict, and the streets are stalked by living images and texts—and by the forces of Hell. To escape the city, he must join forces with Sam, an American photographer intent on recording the ruins, and make common cause with a powerful, enigmatic figure of chance and rebellion: the Exquisite Corpse."

See what I mean --- I don't think I could write anything that explains this any better.  Because, frankly, I feel like I'm not sure, after finishing this book, if I could adequately explain this book.  The story asks the question:"Can living artwork die? Can it live before it dies?"     In this book, yes. Living artwork, in all its strange beauty, can live (and attack).  I usually love this author's books, but this one took me a while to get through.  While I know some about the Surrealist art movement, and recognized some of the art and artists, I felt compelled to keep looking things up.   And, feeling like somehow, I just wasn't quite smart enough for this book.  I feel like if I were more grounded in my art history, I would have found the book to be more moving, or emotionally compelling.  As it was, I found the book fascinating, but much like a piece of art that I think I like, but can't quite explain why.  

So, good book, but an odd book.  If this is the first time you've heard of this author, I would recommend starting with a different book of his.   If this book sounds fascinating to you, then you might want to read this from the New Yorker.  And this from NPR.  Especially the first paragraph of that NPR article.

And, I feel like it's appropriate to add this here -- one of my favorite works of art, which happens to be by Rene Magritte, a surrealist artist.    This is called "Time Transfixed," and it hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago.  I used to go to the Art Institute and search it out, just to visit one of my favorites each time I went there.