![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Book Review
The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black
by E.B. Hudspeth
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
This book is in two parts: the first is the tale of Spencer Black, a doctor and scientist in late 19th century Philadelphia who developed a bizarre theory that mythical creatures such as centaurs, harpies, and mermaids were the evolutionary ancestors of humans; the second is a collection of beautifully detailed anatomical drawings of these mythical creatures, with Black's commentary about his discoveries regarding them.
The Resurrectionist is a very interesting book - I'm not sure how much I really liked it, but I keep thinking about it nonetheless. The first part is written in a very concise, almost bare-bones style, more like that of an encyclopedia or newspaper article than a novel. Included in the dispassionate narrative are excerpts from Black's letters and journals, which give some depth to his spiral into madness as his theories lead him into Frankenstein-like experimentation on animals and occasionally people. It's subtly creepy and raises as many questions as it answers. I kind of wish this part had been a little bit longer, to give the reader just a bit clearer idea of what Black was up to, especially at the end of the story. The second part is really fascinating - the drawings are lovely and thorough. They really illuminate what was going on with Black, and possibly contain clues to the mysteries of the first part. Unfortunately, the copy I received was a proof, and thus more than half of the plates were absent.
I'm really curious to see what this author does next.
by E.B. Hudspeth
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
This book is in two parts: the first is the tale of Spencer Black, a doctor and scientist in late 19th century Philadelphia who developed a bizarre theory that mythical creatures such as centaurs, harpies, and mermaids were the evolutionary ancestors of humans; the second is a collection of beautifully detailed anatomical drawings of these mythical creatures, with Black's commentary about his discoveries regarding them.
The Resurrectionist is a very interesting book - I'm not sure how much I really liked it, but I keep thinking about it nonetheless. The first part is written in a very concise, almost bare-bones style, more like that of an encyclopedia or newspaper article than a novel. Included in the dispassionate narrative are excerpts from Black's letters and journals, which give some depth to his spiral into madness as his theories lead him into Frankenstein-like experimentation on animals and occasionally people. It's subtly creepy and raises as many questions as it answers. I kind of wish this part had been a little bit longer, to give the reader just a bit clearer idea of what Black was up to, especially at the end of the story. The second part is really fascinating - the drawings are lovely and thorough. They really illuminate what was going on with Black, and possibly contain clues to the mysteries of the first part. Unfortunately, the copy I received was a proof, and thus more than half of the plates were absent.
I'm really curious to see what this author does next.
no subject
(And we may share some of those preferences - I did sign up for the giveaway for this book, and then put it on the top of my fiction reading pile once I got it)