Let's Talk Books

In February of this year I read an excellent book, and confidently I said it would probably be the best book I read all year. Quite fittingly, for this book, I wish I could go back in time, and un-make that assertion. This is probably the best book I will read all year.

The Ministry of Time is a most spectacular thing. It is a novel that is as narratively compelling, and thematically rich, as it is mechanically well-written. This is a book that is about love, as much as it is a book about post-colonialism, about the individual in the machine, about genocide, politics, government, and sense of self. Kaliane Bradley interrogates race, person-hood, the idea of individuality, and the homogeneity identity when you’re following orders. She also presents some of the most delicate, heart-breaking, intimate developments of relationships I have ever read. This is a love story, not a romance, and it is the kind of love we all aspire to have. This is also a book about obsession, and hurting people, and about breaking yourself open again and again.

I cannot see the future, and yet I feel confident predicting great things for this novel.

This is the easiest 5 stars I have given in a long time. I am thrilled to have had the privilege to read this book early. I have so many things I want to talk about, and yet I would not dare spoil this book for anyone. Everyone should read this book.