Just read UnLunDun and it is fantastic, a weird twist on the Wizard of Oz with a slightly eccentric eco message. Anyone else read this or anything else by Mievelle?

I've got Perdido Street Station and have started it twice but not got anywhere. The purple prose style really puts me off.

"Purple prose" ?

Wikipedia entry on purple prose.

Mieville's writing is loaded with overwrought imagery and stuffed with too many adjectives, to the point where I, as a squeamishly moderate English sort of person, can hardly stand to read it. It feels embarrassing - like, dude, put that stuff away, will you?

What we commoners call "overdoing it a tad".

Exactly.