in all the places we were hiding love
When we did the bookshelves on the weekend, I rediscovered Enchantment by Orson Scott Card in Ari's collection which, even though I bullied her into buying and she still hasn't read, I promptly borrowed back off to read.
I finished it today on my lunch hour and yeah, it was with considerable relief and sore disappointment. Enchantment was one of the first novels retelling of myth and fairytale that I read. I remember I absolutely fucking loved it, was such an horizon expander. It was totally a whole new world of literature. And this was even before I discovered the Ender series by Orson Scott Card.
So this re-read, now that I've read Francesca Lia Block, Sheri S Tepper, Gaiman, Pratchett, de Lint, Marillier et al, this was curiously disappointing. It was almost like juvenilia from Orson Scott Card, the narrative almost dense and clunky compared to my memories of the Ender books. I mean, I know the Ender books can be fairly dense themselves but it's funny how I thoroughly tolerated and even enjoyed those passages whereas here it was just frustrating me. Kinda like Tolkein in that he persisted in putting all these blocks of prose between me and the characters. But then as the story shifted worlds, I realised the main difficulty I had was with his dialogue style in one world. I hated that style, it was so archaic and unnecessarily dramatic and heavy handed. Which theoretically I know could be a totally conscious choice on his part, to differentiate between the two worlds. But gah, how it damaged the characters and the story experience for me. I was very impatient in that world while I was quite comfortable in the other.
As a result, I couldn't wait for the novel to finish. And now this niggling sense of dissatisfaction is prodding me to re-read the Ender books. It cannot be Orson Scott Card, it must be just that book. Or better yet, it must be just me!
Speaking of myth and fairy tale, have I mentioned how much I adore Peter Gabriel? Quite rediscovering my love for this album.
I finished it today on my lunch hour and yeah, it was with considerable relief and sore disappointment. Enchantment was one of the first novels retelling of myth and fairytale that I read. I remember I absolutely fucking loved it, was such an horizon expander. It was totally a whole new world of literature. And this was even before I discovered the Ender series by Orson Scott Card.
So this re-read, now that I've read Francesca Lia Block, Sheri S Tepper, Gaiman, Pratchett, de Lint, Marillier et al, this was curiously disappointing. It was almost like juvenilia from Orson Scott Card, the narrative almost dense and clunky compared to my memories of the Ender books. I mean, I know the Ender books can be fairly dense themselves but it's funny how I thoroughly tolerated and even enjoyed those passages whereas here it was just frustrating me. Kinda like Tolkein in that he persisted in putting all these blocks of prose between me and the characters. But then as the story shifted worlds, I realised the main difficulty I had was with his dialogue style in one world. I hated that style, it was so archaic and unnecessarily dramatic and heavy handed. Which theoretically I know could be a totally conscious choice on his part, to differentiate between the two worlds. But gah, how it damaged the characters and the story experience for me. I was very impatient in that world while I was quite comfortable in the other.
As a result, I couldn't wait for the novel to finish. And now this niggling sense of dissatisfaction is prodding me to re-read the Ender books. It cannot be Orson Scott Card, it must be just that book. Or better yet, it must be just me!
Speaking of myth and fairy tale, have I mentioned how much I adore Peter Gabriel? Quite rediscovering my love for this album.