The Cornish Giant Strike-s Again (The Silkworm)
Jul 6, 2014 9:00:43 GMT -5
Inigo Montoya, Dee Dee, and 4 more like this
Post by RyooT on Jul 6, 2014 9:00:43 GMT -5
Recently Robert Gailbraith (aka JK Rowling) released the second installment of the Cormoran Strike series titled 'The Silkworm'.
Set in the literature scene, it is a gripping mystery. What starts as a seemingly easy case - to convince a woman's errant writer husband - location presumably known - to return to his wife and child, quickly turns into a literal tour-de-force. Said husband, with a history of taking off without notice, disappeared after a row with his literary agent. But things are never as straightforward as they seem and soon the case turns from messenger to looking for a missing person to investigating a particularly sadistic murder...
At the same level as the story itself is the character development, not only of the protagonist Cormoran Strike and his secretary Robin, but also of the story's host of secondary characters. The secondary characters are well drawn and distinct. Strike and Robin are nicely and congruently continuing the journey begun eight months prior in the first book (The Cuckoo's Calling). Strike, an SBK amputee, is developed in interesting detail and depth, by revealing additional bits of information of his past and bringing in more of his complicated family relations without derailing the story. Where I was critical of the depiction of his disability in the first book, Rowling has done a far better job this time, making her character more human and believable. I think the way she has done so is very interesting. She removes the focus almost completely from the amputation and places it on Strike's knee (of that same leg) which is weakened and re-injured because of the amputation. In this way the amputation itself becomes - though the root cause - almost completely inconsequential. I suppose, in this way the character's story becomes more relatable and realistic while at the same time providing plenty of material to depict the daily frustrations Strike deals with. I thought it was a really clever (and unusual) way to go about the character development in this aspect of the story.
I read the book in a single day - the story is skillfully crafted in the way that even though I had more or less the same clues as the detective, the reveal still took me by surprise and gave me that 'of-course' moment which for me is one of the staples of a good mystery.
My verdict: a superb, solid read and despite it's nearly 500 pages I was sad when it was over - 5/5.
Set in the literature scene, it is a gripping mystery. What starts as a seemingly easy case - to convince a woman's errant writer husband - location presumably known - to return to his wife and child, quickly turns into a literal tour-de-force. Said husband, with a history of taking off without notice, disappeared after a row with his literary agent. But things are never as straightforward as they seem and soon the case turns from messenger to looking for a missing person to investigating a particularly sadistic murder...
At the same level as the story itself is the character development, not only of the protagonist Cormoran Strike and his secretary Robin, but also of the story's host of secondary characters. The secondary characters are well drawn and distinct. Strike and Robin are nicely and congruently continuing the journey begun eight months prior in the first book (The Cuckoo's Calling). Strike, an SBK amputee, is developed in interesting detail and depth, by revealing additional bits of information of his past and bringing in more of his complicated family relations without derailing the story. Where I was critical of the depiction of his disability in the first book, Rowling has done a far better job this time, making her character more human and believable. I think the way she has done so is very interesting. She removes the focus almost completely from the amputation and places it on Strike's knee (of that same leg) which is weakened and re-injured because of the amputation. In this way the amputation itself becomes - though the root cause - almost completely inconsequential. I suppose, in this way the character's story becomes more relatable and realistic while at the same time providing plenty of material to depict the daily frustrations Strike deals with. I thought it was a really clever (and unusual) way to go about the character development in this aspect of the story.
I read the book in a single day - the story is skillfully crafted in the way that even though I had more or less the same clues as the detective, the reveal still took me by surprise and gave me that 'of-course' moment which for me is one of the staples of a good mystery.
My verdict: a superb, solid read and despite it's nearly 500 pages I was sad when it was over - 5/5.
