The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I found this book to be overwritten, long, and convoluted. It was over complicated for no reason and it could be about 200 pages shorter. The writing should be more concise as the subject of a sentence was hard to identify in places. There were many connections made throughout the novel, harkening back to earlier moments but a majority didn’t have the impact that maybe the author thought they would. It was an ok cool reveal but many times I did not really care. There were several nods and winks to real world things which was cute as well as some phrases that struck me as thought provoking. I did take note of several while I was reading including “an ocean of knowledge is apt to drown you long before it educates you. The art of learning was in selection.” Many caused me to smile while reading. I also think there was too much left open and unresolved. There were too many things that didn’t have clear explanation, and it left me unsatisfied while reading. I like world building books but if they are drastically different than ours then some things need to pointed out directly. There was just too much that was invented that was left unsaid. I did like many of the characters and there were well developed as the main ones each felt distinct. I did like the little quotes before each chapter as well. There was a light pull to see what would happen next but I think it was more to do with searching for a reason why I was reading this tome versus dying to know what happened. Yes, this novel was about books and a library (which drew me to it) but I don’t think I would call it literary. The overall theme and concept was not clear and I don’t think I could really explain the point of the book. It wasn’t that big words were used but that the sentences were, at times, needlessly unclear. The Book That Wouldn’t Burn was a monumental undertaking that collapsed under its own weight. There was like this cloud was hanging around in my brain the entire time I was reading and I couldn’t get into it. While reading, I was not hit by any strong emotions including any reaction to what was pushed as a love story. It was almost like reading a textbook.
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