Beautifully interwoven into the investigation was the religious overtones of the impending supernova and the final message sent across time and space. I particularly liked that resolution of the homicide case was overshadowed by something bigger, in every sense of the word--a change in perspective, I suppose. It reminded me of "Exhalation" when the narrator hopes that someone will discover what they left behind long after they've perished. In this case, the signal from across the stars conveyed a message from a civilization that had been obliterated two and a half million years ago.
Side note: apparently 'farang' is the general Thai word for someone of European ancestry, which is sometimes used in a derogatory fashion. It's used a lot in The Windup Girl, and I thought it was just a made up word.
All in all, this was definitely one of my favorite stories.
I definitely feel like it was a much better detective story than Holmes Sherlock. It really was a mystery right up until the end, especially because all of the techno-speak took some unravelling as well. But then again, Holmes Sherlock, though named after the famous detective, wasn't actually about a murder mystery, was it? It was about learning the human condition through literature. Which is, admittedly, less exciting, but still interesting, and not necessarily comparable to "In the House..."
ReplyDeleteI would argue that "In the House of Aryaman" wasn't ultimately about the murder mystery itself the way that Agatha Christie's novels or other mystery novels are, but rather gaining a greater perspective on existence. (I don't think I worded this quite like I wanted to. It sounded better in my head.)
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