By the time I finished chapter 38, I felt like Gibson had completely turned the story around. Everything after that chapter seemed to move so quickly, and the circumstances/ situations that Cayce found herself in were extraordinarily strange and crazy. The amount of knowledge and abilities that Cayce had towards the end almost seemed supernatural. After being drugged by Dorotea/ Mama Anarchia, Cayce found herself in a hospital/high school/prison, which strangely enough, she was able to escape fairly easily from. Then, after hours of walking in a Soviet eco-disaster desert drenched in Titanium, Cayce was rescued by Parkaboy, who she found out was Peter Gilbert in real life. The other relationships with Volkov, Bigend, and Boone came into light, and Cayce ended up being honored and was given gifts. I like that Gibson ended this story happily, in a strange way, for Cayce. She found love and a little more answers to her father's disappearance, and was given a lot of cash which she shared with her friends and mother. I just feel that after finishing this book, I want to re-read the beginning to see if I can catch anything that I didn't before. Does anyone else feel this way??
Yes Meesh, I agree 100%! The end of this book was like a two-hour movie that peaked, but the film editor had to shorten final key scenes due to production demands. I re read page 193 and page 367 to find parallels in the moments where Cayce breaks down into tears. She explains on page 367
ReplyDelete“-furiously shoveling gray muck and bones, her face streaked with tears. Neither, Peter nor Damien had asked her why but she thinks now that if they had she might have told them she was weeping for her century, though whether the one past or the one present she doesn’t know.” W.G.
In these two moments (I believe) she allows herself to weep for her century past and present, for the missing lives, and the unraveling chaotic environment surrounding 911.
This is where the Hollywood film director could show the audience two second back and forth images/footage of Cayce with tears running down her checks while standing in union square and shoveling in the pit.
Did anyone else find information applied near the end of the novel that ties us to earlier events, emotions, or motifs?
This book was so good! And yes, Meesh, I do feel like reading it again to see what I missed. I also, enjoyed the ending. I agree Van that it wrapped up rather quickly but nevertheless it was done so in a way that made me: 1) feel like my time invested in the book was worth it, 2) feel positive after having been in the dark for most of the book, 3) feel good for Cayce that she found love and resolution about her father, 4) feel happy for Cayce that she overcame her allergy to logos. I'm definitely recommending this book to people.
ReplyDeleteI like that he ended the book with both good and bad. I mean, a truly perfect ending would include Win's miraculous survival and subsequent return into Cayce's life, but Gibson doesn't take the cheesy perfect ending approach.. He gives her a sense of closure, though not necessarily happy closure (with him being dead and all). He also concluded everything in a very interesting way. Rather than just tell you "here's what happened" he let's the characters develop the truth (i.e. Peter's divulgence of the way the footage rendering was done, rather than the narrator saying "this is where the footage is rendered and this is how). I especially liked how he did that through the emails in the last chapter. Overall, really good book.
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