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Fabulous book.

I saw it as a metaphor for those things in our cities we choose not to see, e.g. poverty and homelessness.

I saw that as the metaphor as well, but I wished he developed it more in that direction. Considering how amazing it could be as a political message, it feels incomplete that he didn't deal with that explicitly at all. It's almost like he was trying too hard to avoid putting anything political in it.

Overall, I loved the theme, setting, language, but didn't get much out of the plot. That's mostly how I've felt about all the Mieville books I've read so far. (With the exception of The Scar which was delicious in every aspect.) I keep reading them because I love every sentence, page, chapter, but I don't expect the whole to ultimately satisfy.

I suspect its part of the conceit that it's unclear whether its allegorical about any particular thing. Similarly, in a scene or two it gets very close to being a fantasy novel, but never settles the question. Mieville seems like the kind of author more pleased with that kind of idea-trickery than making a mundane worldly point explicit.

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