The Mayor of Aln

By James Rourke

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1471735346
• ISBN13: 9781471735349
• Release Date: June 2012
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.8" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

"Gormenghast" with structure

The setting and atmosphere are very akin to Mervyn Peake, but Steerpike's equivalent - although equally a megalomaniac - proves to be a failed idealist figure well in tune with modern political concerns. The figure of Konrad remains above or below our sympathies, but always in contrast to a painfully-plausible depiction of a society that seems only capable of stasis or degeneration. Virtue and idealism seem only to have fallen to misfits or the downright insane, and even their incorruptibility remains uncertain. Lack of sympathetic characters is frequently a problem, though unavoidably so considering the themes. When we finally do get a minor-character's-eye-view of the inner workings of the failed utopia (look for the brief appearance of the character Flaig), our sympathies are won. Admittedly, morbid curiosity is much of this novel's driving force, but the pace of incident is rarely let down and never becomes uninteresting. The perpetual atmosphere of dread and suspicion is bolstered with a great deal of physical action, from barroom brawls to full-scale war-crimes (and there is certainly a strong fascism theme, as the show trial of the closing chapters puts beyond a doubt). The ending is most surprising, though the "message" far from clear. I never was much of a political philosopher. It certainly got me thinking, though. Excellent reading matter for our paranoid, yet defiantly naive times.