Monday, August 25, 2008
Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry has been one of my favorite books since the moment I read the last line of the last page. It's one of those books that you keep coming back to in the quiet moments of life when, more than anything, you need a bit of hard-won wisdom to ground you.
Hannah Coulter finds herself old, widowed, and alone. Now, faced with the onset of a new life -- life without Nathan -- she recalls the events that brought her to where she is. She remembers her childhood, growing up on a farm in the tiny community of Port William, Kentucky. She remembers young love and devastating loss. She remembers life during World War II. She remembers raising her children. Mostly, she remembers the never ending changing of seasons. Life has to be lived, a season at a time. Hannah lived it, and now she has a few stories to tell.
This is by no means an explosive book: it's not thrilling, or action packed, or fast-paced. Plot is not the author's primary device. It's through the unique, first-person perspective of Hannah that the story unfolds. The great pleasure of reading this book doesn't come from intricate story lines -- it stems rather from the wisdom and philosophical insight of an ordinary woman who's lived an ordinary life. Using prose that's nothing short of absolutely lovely, Berry lends us Hannah's words in telling her story, in sharing her impassioned opinions, and in showing us life through her eyes.
Hell is a shameful place, and it is hard to speak of what you know of it. It is hard to live in Port William and yet have in mind the blasted and burnt, bloodied and muddy and stinking battlegrounds of Okinawa, hard to live in one place and imagine another. It is hard to live one life and imagine another. But imagination is what is needed. Want of imagination makes things unreal enough to be destroyed. By imagination I mean knowledge and love. I mean compassion. People of power kill children, the old send the young to die, because they have no imagination. They have power. Can you have power and imagination at the same time? Can you kill people you don't know and have compassion for them at the same time?
If you want a novel that will leave you biting your fingernails at the edge of your seat, I wouldn't recommend it. Remember, plot is not the main focus of the author, and for those who aren't used to this style, it can be slow in places. But, regardless, it is a novel that's stirring in a different way. It opens up a window into a world most would otherwise never know, and it does so with an insight and beauty that I find to be rare in most contemporary fiction. Life, love, and everything in-between -- Hannah sees it all, and tells it in a voice so real, and ordinary, and wise, it's like having your own grandmother in the room.
Hannah Coulter is one to put on the bookshelf, because it's definitely one to come back to.
Hannah Coulter finds herself old, widowed, and alone. Now, faced with the onset of a new life -- life without Nathan -- she recalls the events that brought her to where she is. She remembers her childhood, growing up on a farm in the tiny community of Port William, Kentucky. She remembers young love and devastating loss. She remembers life during World War II. She remembers raising her children. Mostly, she remembers the never ending changing of seasons. Life has to be lived, a season at a time. Hannah lived it, and now she has a few stories to tell.
This is by no means an explosive book: it's not thrilling, or action packed, or fast-paced. Plot is not the author's primary device. It's through the unique, first-person perspective of Hannah that the story unfolds. The great pleasure of reading this book doesn't come from intricate story lines -- it stems rather from the wisdom and philosophical insight of an ordinary woman who's lived an ordinary life. Using prose that's nothing short of absolutely lovely, Berry lends us Hannah's words in telling her story, in sharing her impassioned opinions, and in showing us life through her eyes.
Hell is a shameful place, and it is hard to speak of what you know of it. It is hard to live in Port William and yet have in mind the blasted and burnt, bloodied and muddy and stinking battlegrounds of Okinawa, hard to live in one place and imagine another. It is hard to live one life and imagine another. But imagination is what is needed. Want of imagination makes things unreal enough to be destroyed. By imagination I mean knowledge and love. I mean compassion. People of power kill children, the old send the young to die, because they have no imagination. They have power. Can you have power and imagination at the same time? Can you kill people you don't know and have compassion for them at the same time?
If you want a novel that will leave you biting your fingernails at the edge of your seat, I wouldn't recommend it. Remember, plot is not the main focus of the author, and for those who aren't used to this style, it can be slow in places. But, regardless, it is a novel that's stirring in a different way. It opens up a window into a world most would otherwise never know, and it does so with an insight and beauty that I find to be rare in most contemporary fiction. Life, love, and everything in-between -- Hannah sees it all, and tells it in a voice so real, and ordinary, and wise, it's like having your own grandmother in the room.
Hannah Coulter is one to put on the bookshelf, because it's definitely one to come back to.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
The Dragon Queen by Alice Borchardt
Her parents were apagan queen and a Sidhe. She was raised by wolves. She was taught by a druid. Her name was Guenivere. This story takes the Arthur Myths and tells them from an infinitely more interesting side. In fact, Arthur only makes brief appearances. All for the better I say! Why? Because Borchardt manages to make a Guenivere that you will see as neither weak or loose. ( Which I see both of in books like The Once and Future King.)
This is the tale of her youth. Of her fight with the lovers, Merlin and Igrane. Of the epic battle to claim her right as the pagan Dragon Queen. This isn't the overwritten tale of knights and castles, but of Celtic warriors, priestesses, and druids.
The characters that populate this book are both primitive and amazingly complicated. It set in the time that the later pagan culture is meeting the early Christian. Both aspects manage to twine together to make a truly beautiful book.
You'll not be seeing a Guenivere locked in a tower or mooning over Lancelot. This is a princess that waits for no man! (Seriously, it's amazing-ness has me all choked up and unable to express it.)
" My eyes opened and I saw the vine begin at my shoulder. The sleeve of my shirt was gone, dissolved by the nameless power in this man's hand. Coiling spreading down my arm speaking in the statement of design and form of my people's belief that all is one, and endlessly varied procession of beauty-- joining, separating, searching, dreaming loving-- an indestructible and eternal panorama of creating that we can never, never love enough. Both spectator and participant, protector and destroyer, but above all, joined to the everlasting splendor that is it, us, and God."
Ooo, wow, it still gives me chills. I challenge you to read this book and not get chills at least once. Alice can really spin a tale. (She's Anne Rice's sister by the way. Don't let that turn you off her. She's much better.)
Only downside to this book is that the sequel isn't worth the effort. If you read this then I would definitely let it stand alone because The Raven Warrior is just a waste of time. I never made it all the way through it, to be honest. It just was that bad. Small warning: There is a rather graphic scene in the middle. Not involving two people, but graphic none the less. Just for you people who are easily squicked.
Go forth and read it!
Her parents were apagan queen and a Sidhe. She was raised by wolves. She was taught by a druid. Her name was Guenivere. This story takes the Arthur Myths and tells them from an infinitely more interesting side. In fact, Arthur only makes brief appearances. All for the better I say! Why? Because Borchardt manages to make a Guenivere that you will see as neither weak or loose. ( Which I see both of in books like The Once and Future King.)
This is the tale of her youth. Of her fight with the lovers, Merlin and Igrane. Of the epic battle to claim her right as the pagan Dragon Queen. This isn't the overwritten tale of knights and castles, but of Celtic warriors, priestesses, and druids.
The characters that populate this book are both primitive and amazingly complicated. It set in the time that the later pagan culture is meeting the early Christian. Both aspects manage to twine together to make a truly beautiful book.
You'll not be seeing a Guenivere locked in a tower or mooning over Lancelot. This is a princess that waits for no man! (Seriously, it's amazing-ness has me all choked up and unable to express it.)
" My eyes opened and I saw the vine begin at my shoulder. The sleeve of my shirt was gone, dissolved by the nameless power in this man's hand. Coiling spreading down my arm speaking in the statement of design and form of my people's belief that all is one, and endlessly varied procession of beauty-- joining, separating, searching, dreaming loving-- an indestructible and eternal panorama of creating that we can never, never love enough. Both spectator and participant, protector and destroyer, but above all, joined to the everlasting splendor that is it, us, and God."
Ooo, wow, it still gives me chills. I challenge you to read this book and not get chills at least once. Alice can really spin a tale. (She's Anne Rice's sister by the way. Don't let that turn you off her. She's much better.)
Only downside to this book is that the sequel isn't worth the effort. If you read this then I would definitely let it stand alone because The Raven Warrior is just a waste of time. I never made it all the way through it, to be honest. It just was that bad. Small warning: There is a rather graphic scene in the middle. Not involving two people, but graphic none the less. Just for you people who are easily squicked.
Go forth and read it!
Well, the plot is peppered with clichés, the heroeine is dancing on the ledge of Mary-Sue-ism, and the fantasy elements occasionally leave something to be desired.
But is it a good read? Heck yes!
Countess Meliara's only wish is to live peacefully in her poverty-stricken homeland, running wild among the mysterious Hill Folk and dancing in the village with her best friend Oria. But when she begins to aid her father and brother in brewing a rebellion against the tyrannical King Galdran, a devastating war gets dumped on her doorstop, and the damage is irreparable.
The stakes are raised when, on a routine scouting mission, Meliara is horribly injured and captured by the enemy. However, after being taken to the King's palace and left to rot in a jail cell, she is given the chance to escape. Now a wanted criminal on the lamb, she's only got the clothes on her back and her wits to carry her through. But she finds help in unexpected places, from allies she thought to be enemies, and when the military war ends, the war at court begins, with Meliara in the center of the political whirlpool.
Granted, the sub-plots (mainly of a romantic nature) are predictable and thus rather boring. But overall, it's definitely a fun read, especially for any lover of fantasy. The saga of Meliara's flight from the palace was a page-turner, aided by a slew of cliff-hangers that almost made me fall off my bed with impatience. Sherwood Smith's writing style is sharp and fast-paced, and her characters run deeper than the kiddie pool, which was refreshing after my latest excursions into Philip Pullman's work. Sure, Meliara could be more well-rounded, and she has her Mary-Sue moments, but Smith creates a smart and persistent heroeine. She has personal weaknesses, but she also has enough strength to get her through the tough spots. She was a character I enjoyed following.
If you're looking for a meaningful, thought-provoking experience, I would put away Crown Duel and pick up something else. But if you're looking for an entertaining fantasy story and a cast of characters that delivers, I would definitely recommend it.
But is it a good read? Heck yes!
Countess Meliara's only wish is to live peacefully in her poverty-stricken homeland, running wild among the mysterious Hill Folk and dancing in the village with her best friend Oria. But when she begins to aid her father and brother in brewing a rebellion against the tyrannical King Galdran, a devastating war gets dumped on her doorstop, and the damage is irreparable.
The stakes are raised when, on a routine scouting mission, Meliara is horribly injured and captured by the enemy. However, after being taken to the King's palace and left to rot in a jail cell, she is given the chance to escape. Now a wanted criminal on the lamb, she's only got the clothes on her back and her wits to carry her through. But she finds help in unexpected places, from allies she thought to be enemies, and when the military war ends, the war at court begins, with Meliara in the center of the political whirlpool.
Granted, the sub-plots (mainly of a romantic nature) are predictable and thus rather boring. But overall, it's definitely a fun read, especially for any lover of fantasy. The saga of Meliara's flight from the palace was a page-turner, aided by a slew of cliff-hangers that almost made me fall off my bed with impatience. Sherwood Smith's writing style is sharp and fast-paced, and her characters run deeper than the kiddie pool, which was refreshing after my latest excursions into Philip Pullman's work. Sure, Meliara could be more well-rounded, and she has her Mary-Sue moments, but Smith creates a smart and persistent heroeine. She has personal weaknesses, but she also has enough strength to get her through the tough spots. She was a character I enjoyed following.
If you're looking for a meaningful, thought-provoking experience, I would put away Crown Duel and pick up something else. But if you're looking for an entertaining fantasy story and a cast of characters that delivers, I would definitely recommend it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
