kraken is menippean satire, very plainly through the subtitle, "an anatomy," in the sense intended by frye. that places it very much in the tradition of moby dick--but mieville's version is the anti-melville, one wherein we confront the end, and win. melville's version is more starkly apocalyptic, and more similar to RSB, or, so it seems at this time when TSA is incomplete. we shall see if RSB bears out the menippean tradition, as i am suspecting.