China Mieville's Perdido Street Station

Every book has its own set up of a world. And sometimes, this world could be completely different from the world we know, for instance like the magical world of witches and wizards. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville is a book that builds an absolutely different world – a world full of hybrids of species. It was hard for me to understand what was going on, because all the rich descriptions of such a new world felt too much. However as you get used to it, it is fabulous by the fact how Mieville merged so many different cultures to make a fantasy world on its own feet.

Legendary figures were key in Perdido Street Station. Based on various myths, all species are defined with reference to an existing legendary creature. Mieville’s book is also fun by how if we search up certain words and there we could actually see hundreds of results about cultural legends. Khepri is an Egyptian sun god in the form of a scarab beetle, and garuda is a bird creature from the Hindu mythology. These are also two of the many species that appear in Perdido Street Station. All the different hybrids are tied to the legends of different cultures and religions, which is then tied to the ‘ancient’ atmosphere, which is reinforced throughout the story. In fact, the ancient feeling of the book also seems to emphasize the ‘old laws’ of the community itself, showing how savage and tyrannical the whole system is.

Another fun fact is that China Mieville places myths and science in the same environment, which forms a somewhat weird juxtaposition. The idea of a New Weird seems to be coming through this contrast, since myths and science suggests opposite things. The whole society of hybrids is somewhat a result of nature and science, however are named by legendary creatures. In addition the main character, Isaac, is quoted to be a “scientist, not a mystic.” The smooth mixture of opposite characteristics and values over the whole story seems to be another subtle element that pushes the weird atmosphere a little more forward.

Especially as in some literature, I’ve learned that science is often used as a tool for mortals to step into the zone of God. The idea of this is implied in Perdido Street Station as well when Isaac is asked by Yagharek to give him back his wings – not a temporary solution but a permanent one. The emerging of both science and myths in the same setting makes the story magical and modern all at the same time which is an element that makes the audience somewhat uncomfortable due to the big difference. The New Weird uses discomfort to show a rather new reality.