Tuesday, November 28, 2006
book report: Codex
Codex
by Lev Grossman
I loved this book! It's about an investment banker who is about to start a new position in London, but in the meantime takes what he thinks will be a quick consulting job for a client. It turns out to be not so quick and also not so financial, as he discovers that his client(s) have a large collection of very old books that they wish for him to catalog. They are seeking a particular medieval codex which may or may not even exist. While trying to come up with any information at all about the codex and its author, Ed the banker meets Margaret the literary scholar. She gets sucked into his story even though she believes that the codex doesn't exist. The mystery develops multiple layers as Edward plays an addictive videogame that seems to be related to the mysterious codex; Margaret becomes involved in the search; it's revealed that the duke and duchess who are Edward's clients are actually working against each other, and so on.
I really enjoyed the story because it was both exciting and smart. I hope Grossman writes another novel soon. Although I suppose his day job is kind of excellent, reviewing books for Time Magazine and all.
by Lev Grossman
I loved this book! It's about an investment banker who is about to start a new position in London, but in the meantime takes what he thinks will be a quick consulting job for a client. It turns out to be not so quick and also not so financial, as he discovers that his client(s) have a large collection of very old books that they wish for him to catalog. They are seeking a particular medieval codex which may or may not even exist. While trying to come up with any information at all about the codex and its author, Ed the banker meets Margaret the literary scholar. She gets sucked into his story even though she believes that the codex doesn't exist. The mystery develops multiple layers as Edward plays an addictive videogame that seems to be related to the mysterious codex; Margaret becomes involved in the search; it's revealed that the duke and duchess who are Edward's clients are actually working against each other, and so on.
I really enjoyed the story because it was both exciting and smart. I hope Grossman writes another novel soon. Although I suppose his day job is kind of excellent, reviewing books for Time Magazine and all.
Labels: book reports, mysteries
