I struggled with rating Code Noir. The writing was powerful and lyrical, but it was challenging. I’m pretty sure I understood only maybe half of this allegorical collection of short stories. Or maybe it wasn’t allegorical at all? It’s at once very accessible if the reader is willing to bathe in the sentences for a while, but also at times I don’t think I was able to access what Lubrin was trying to say for lack of the appropriate theoretical grounding. Or maybe it’s not academic at all and just needs to be experienced. I’m still not sure what I’ve read, but I’m still thinking about it a couple of days later.