Didactic
Adjective.
1a: designed or intended to teach b: intended to convey instruction and information as well as pleasure and entertainment.
2: making moral observations.
– didactical, adjective.
– didactically, adverb.
– didacticism, noun.
[Origin: Greek didaktikos, from didaskein to teach.}
(1658)
“King Rat’s London snarl had assumed a didactic tone. “Pay attention, ratling. This here is the entrance to your ceremonial abode.” – King Rat, China Miéville.
This is the first China Mieville book I read, and while I can’t say it completely hooked me, it was enough to lead me to explore more of his books. I don’t regret it; he has some real talent for world-building, and it’s not his fault I don’t always like his stories to the fullest (he’s also written some of the creepiest short stories I’ve ever read, wow).
He’s one of those authors I go back and forth on. Some stuff I really like, some I really don’t, and some is meh. King Rat was my first, too. I do appreciate that his work requires thought, though.
This, yes. Last I read from him was The Scar, and I spent a long time thinking about it. Un Lun Dun was a cool subversion of hero tropes, and I loved the concept of The City and the City. A bit ‘meh’ on Perdido Street Station, though I can certainly appreciate the world-building that went on in that book.