book post
The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle (The Last Unicorn #1)
This is a re-read. I first read the book probably around middle school after watching the movie a ton. Re-reading it I am struck by two things: 1) Schmendrick's self-awareness as a character in a larger story and 2) This is one of the cases where the movie overshadows the book for me. I love the movie too deeply to really be able to appreciate the novel as it is. Every line, every page, I remember the movie; I can hear Angela Lansbury's voice, I can see the forest in Amalthea's eyes, I can't read the text alone. Still, the sequel novella "Two Hearts" made me cry and I will forever wait for the sequel novel and for the movie tour to hopefully come near me again.
In The Night Garden and In The Cities of Coin and Spice by Catherynne Valente (The Orphan's Tales #1 and #2)
Also a re-read. This is definitely a series that yields a rich re-reading because of how interconnected each story is. The first time through you gradually piece everything together, but the re-reads where you know the large picture... Now that's fun. And the prose is so easy to fall under the spell of even knowing what will happen. Re-reading also allowed me to look up all those words I didn't know either. I'm really considering buying both books now; the price is well-worth it for the writing and the wonderful illustrations. I'm also beginning to wonder if I can't like anything else by Valente since I love these two books so very much.
Somethings that strike me:
So this is the first Murakami book I read. It was a surprisingly fast read despite how terribly long it is. And yet, despite the fact I was turning the pages in suspense, I felt like the whole thing was a set up for another novel. Part of it is because of the way Murakami entirely discards the way a story is constructed in the West. I'm not sure if this is something he's known for.
Chekhov's gun, right? He deliberately calls attention to it, explicitly so, and yet the gun is never fired. I think that's a good metaphor for the rest of the novel. There's so much being set up, and yet it's never followed through. So I want to know who are the Little People, what is the air chrystalis, etc. Why is it so important Tengo and Aomame meet up? If we receive no answers to this, why use "fantastical" elements? What purpose do they serve? Similarly, I have no idea what the function of Ushikawa's chapters are; clearly they are of some import to introduce him suddenly as a narrator in the third book.
Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed Tengo's chapters more than Aomame's. With Aomame as a lady assassin, she's clearly my kind of woman, and yet Tengo and Fuka-Eri are so much more interesting. Speaking of Fuka-Eri, I would also love to know more about her. I also disagree with the way the cover flap tries to sell this as a mystery, a love story, a coming of age, and a dystopian to rival 1984. I wouldn't call this a dystopia. A mystery, a suspense, perhaps. The romance is secondary. Oh, and of course, was struck by the prominence of sex, although I'm not sure what to make of it.
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (Chaos Walking #1)
So this was recommended to me by the awesome YA librarian alum who raved about. Alas, I did not particularly like the thing. The main character was kinda annoying to me in his decision making, but it is realistic when we consider his age. I think the book is most valuable when read through the idea that this is a novel exploring what it means to be a man in the future (which is what someone said on the back of the book). Perhaps it is this focus on manhood, to the exclusion of women I would argue, that makes me uninterested in this book. I'm not in the mood to read about men; I'll read about anyone but them. The idea men need to change is old news to me. I will give it bonus points for the talking germ for animals. The animals and the wildlife were cool and I wanted to read more about them.
Originally posted on DW with
comments.
This is a re-read. I first read the book probably around middle school after watching the movie a ton. Re-reading it I am struck by two things: 1) Schmendrick's self-awareness as a character in a larger story and 2) This is one of the cases where the movie overshadows the book for me. I love the movie too deeply to really be able to appreciate the novel as it is. Every line, every page, I remember the movie; I can hear Angela Lansbury's voice, I can see the forest in Amalthea's eyes, I can't read the text alone. Still, the sequel novella "Two Hearts" made me cry and I will forever wait for the sequel novel and for the movie tour to hopefully come near me again.
In The Night Garden and In The Cities of Coin and Spice by Catherynne Valente (The Orphan's Tales #1 and #2)
Also a re-read. This is definitely a series that yields a rich re-reading because of how interconnected each story is. The first time through you gradually piece everything together, but the re-reads where you know the large picture... Now that's fun. And the prose is so easy to fall under the spell of even knowing what will happen. Re-reading also allowed me to look up all those words I didn't know either. I'm really considering buying both books now; the price is well-worth it for the writing and the wonderful illustrations. I'm also beginning to wonder if I can't like anything else by Valente since I love these two books so very much.
Somethings that strike me:
- The multiple absent mother figures
- The very basic grappling of where do we go when we die? that isn't actually answered. Or, if it is, it's not particularly comforting.
- Dinarzad is very much trapped and while I'd like to think she learns to hold peace like a pearl in her hand...
- ...Perhaps this is what makes the Black Papess so striking in this re-read, her parallel narrative with Dinarzad's.
- This time it wasn't the birthing of the ship that made me teary, but the oracles cutting their bodies for their sister
- Valente clearly plays with expectations of fairy tales, and yet the framing story itself is cognitive of exiting the garden of stories and entering the "real world" where there are just as many stories to be told
- The fact there are a shitton of people of color, and I'm tempted to say Valente pulls off a story where people of color are normalized, not exoticized, and honestly I can see people not even realizing these are people of color
- The book about Sigrid remains my favorite. The fact it's followed by the book about Marrow is very, very jarring. The whole book about Marrow is such an outlier in the stories, and even though it's just as magical, it's so very very bleak I'm not sure what to make of it.
- Not sure what the significance of the purple bracelet left in the snow is.
- Also not sure what the larger purpose of the book about Sigrid is. Which character there reveals some crucial aspect of our narrator's heritage?
So this is the first Murakami book I read. It was a surprisingly fast read despite how terribly long it is. And yet, despite the fact I was turning the pages in suspense, I felt like the whole thing was a set up for another novel. Part of it is because of the way Murakami entirely discards the way a story is constructed in the West. I'm not sure if this is something he's known for.
Chekhov's gun, right? He deliberately calls attention to it, explicitly so, and yet the gun is never fired. I think that's a good metaphor for the rest of the novel. There's so much being set up, and yet it's never followed through. So I want to know who are the Little People, what is the air chrystalis, etc. Why is it so important Tengo and Aomame meet up? If we receive no answers to this, why use "fantastical" elements? What purpose do they serve? Similarly, I have no idea what the function of Ushikawa's chapters are; clearly they are of some import to introduce him suddenly as a narrator in the third book.
Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed Tengo's chapters more than Aomame's. With Aomame as a lady assassin, she's clearly my kind of woman, and yet Tengo and Fuka-Eri are so much more interesting. Speaking of Fuka-Eri, I would also love to know more about her. I also disagree with the way the cover flap tries to sell this as a mystery, a love story, a coming of age, and a dystopian to rival 1984. I wouldn't call this a dystopia. A mystery, a suspense, perhaps. The romance is secondary. Oh, and of course, was struck by the prominence of sex, although I'm not sure what to make of it.
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (Chaos Walking #1)
So this was recommended to me by the awesome YA librarian alum who raved about. Alas, I did not particularly like the thing. The main character was kinda annoying to me in his decision making, but it is realistic when we consider his age. I think the book is most valuable when read through the idea that this is a novel exploring what it means to be a man in the future (which is what someone said on the back of the book). Perhaps it is this focus on manhood, to the exclusion of women I would argue, that makes me uninterested in this book. I'm not in the mood to read about men; I'll read about anyone but them. The idea men need to change is old news to me. I will give it bonus points for the talking germ for animals. The animals and the wildlife were cool and I wanted to read more about them.
Originally posted on DW with
comments.