The book is praised for its fast-paced narrative and clever use of epistolary format, blending historical fiction with a detective thriller. Critics appreciate its wit, historical depth, and engaging characters, though some find it slightly brittle and lacking deeper meaning.
Perspectives by Laurent Binet is an epistolary novel set in sixteenth-century Florence, blending historical fiction with a detective thriller. The book is lauded for its fast-paced narrative and clever use of multiple perspectives, offering a dazzling romp through Renaissance Florence. Critics appreciate the wit, historical depth, and engaging characters, particularly the way Binet weaves in art theory and historical figures like Michelangelo and Catherine de' Medici. The novel's playful approach to the genre and its mastery of the period are highlighted, though some reviewers find it slightly brittle and lacking a deeper message. Overall, it's seen as an entertaining and well-crafted work that successfully merges historical intrigue with a modern sensibility.
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The action moves so fast we find ourselves in a Dashiell Hammett novel, albeit one with over-flowery language. The result is somewhat funny and very gripping.
The novel dazzles with its cleverness but doesn’t seem much concerned with articulating a deeper message, and the result, as entertaining as it is, can feel slightly brittle.
Binet projects such mastery of the period, his correspondents ranging from proletarian plotters to Catherine de’ Medici, queen of France, that you swallow it all.