Stardust / Neil Gaiman
June 27th, 2009
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Genre: Fantasy Main characters: Tristram Thorn, Yvaine the star Time and place: partly the village of Wall (somewhere in UK), partly Faerie (a magic world); sometime during Queen Victoria’s rule Summary: The village of Wall takes its name from, you guessed it, a huge stone wall that is the border between our world and the land of Faerie. The only time the border can be crossed is once every nine years, when a magnificent fair is being held on “the other side”. When Tristram Thorn’s lady love promised him his heart’s desire (be it a kiss from her or even her hand in marriage) if he will prove himself worthy by bringing her the very star they both saw falling on one particular evening, he never hesitates although this means his having to wander through Faerie in search of it. Nor does he wonder how come the guards of the wall let him pass through. Nor does he stop until he finds the star — although in a slightly different form that he expected: that of a young blonde girl whose skin glows at night. |
As far as the characters went I was happy to notice that most of them were nice, even good people/beings most of the time. While the story does have its share of people the reader doesn’t want to succeed, in the end even the oldest Lilim, the star’s greatest enemy, nobly acknowledges her loss when it becomes obvious she will not win. A refreshing thing even if a bit improbable outside a fairy tale (but, since this is a fairy tale… :P )
I really liked the world the author has created: a world with girl-stars, unicorns, ships floating on air and travels made faster by magic candles. Also, I was happy to notice some of the details — such as the fact that the seven brothers’ names were the Latin words for First, Second, Third and so on. Or this:
Dunstan paused in front of a stall covered with tiny crystal ornaments; he examined the miniature animals, pondering getting one for Daisy Hempstock. He picked up a crystal cat, no bigger than his thumb. Sagely it blinked at him, and he dropped it, shocked; it righted itself in midair and, like a real cat, fell on its four paws.Then it stalked over to the corner of the stall and began to wash itself.
What I liked most: The writing style. Very accessible (just like a fairy tale is supposed to be) and yet with beautiful imagery at times. To give but an example, I very much liked the way the ghosts of the killed brothers talked, but their voices were heard as nature sounds by the living (the rustle of leaves, the cry of a distant bird, etc).
I have also very much liked this part, near the end (possible spoiler):
“Well,” he said. “Mother certainly seems to be doing an excellent job of reigning.”
“Just as you,” she told him, tartly, “would do every bit as well, if you took the throne.”
“Perhaps,” he admitted. “And it certainly seems like it would be a nice place to end up, eventually. But there are so many places we have not yet seen. So many people still to meet. Not to mention all the wrongs to right, villains to vanquish, sights to see, all that. You know.”
And then they go and write the Mother a note that I think to be the best note ever (in the circumstances, of course): Have been unavoidably detained by the world. Expect us when you see us.
What I liked least: Nothing, I loved it on the whole.
Recommend it to? Anyone who enjoys fairy tales :)
Written by the same author:
Coraline
Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett)
The Graveyard Book
Snow, Glass, Apples
Snow, Glass, Apples / Neil Gaiman
June 26th, 2009
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Genre: Fantasy Main characters: The Queen (unnamed), The King’s daughter (also unnamed) Time and place: A fairytale world Summary: The author’s take on the story of Snow White — this time told from the point of view of the stepmother. |
It is obvious that the author enjoyed playing with the original story, twisting it until it’s almost unrecognizable at times. The step mother is no longer wicked, but only wants the best for her kingdom and is sincerely convinced that getting rid of her stepdaughter is the right thing to do. The seven dwarfs are now a number of distorted, twisted midgets. The good prince is a necrophiliac. And so on, taking the story on a whole new level.
Perhaps it is worth noting the way this short story came to be: according to himself, Neil Gaiman, the author, is fascinated by myths and old stories, considering them the compost that helps new stories develop and grow. When attending a symposium on this subject (myths and fairy tales) he was surprised to discover that the audience did not relate to them, did not think of them as “having power”, as being able to still evolve. So Mr. Gaiman set to prove them wrong — and the very next day he presented them with this particular story, born out of the Tale of Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, and yet with a completely new approach.
In the author’s own words:
It was a retelling of the story of Snow White, from the point of view of the wicked queen. It asked questions like, “What kind of a prince comes across the dead body of a girl in a glass coffin and announces that he is in love and will be taking the body back to his castle?” and for that matter, “What kind of a girl has skin as white as snow, hair as black as coal, lips as red as blood, and can lie, as if dead, for a long time?” We realize, listening to the story, that the wicked queen was not wicked: she simply did not go far enough; and we also realize, as the queen is imprisoned inside a kiln, about to be roasted for the midwinter feast, that stories are told by survivors.
Reading this, I was very impressed by the way the author has managed to create such a frightful story, with such an original perspective, at such short notice. Not that I have ever doubted his talent, of course — but these days I am more impressed by him as ever before. :)
What I liked most: The very idea that the story that we all know might have in reality unfolded differently. After all, the mirror has two faces, doesn’t it? :) I am quite fond of the title too — seemingly random words but also a very strong connection to the initial tale.
What I liked least: Not something that bothered me that much but I was surprised to see a few explicit sexual references. I realize that the reason they took me by surprise is that I was somehow expecting to see a children’s fairy tale (despite knowing the opposite). In any way, they are not over exaggerated and taken in the context, they are just as much a part of the story like all the rest.
Recommend it to? Anyone interested in twisted fairy tales and/or seeing events from more than one perspective :)
Written by the same author:
Coraline
Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett)
Stardust
The Graveyard Book
Beloved / Toni Morrison
June 23rd, 2009
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Genre: Drama Main characters: Sethe, Paul D, Denver and Beloved Time and place: Mostly Georgia and Cincinnati, second half of 19th century Summary: Sethe, a former slave, spends her days together with her daughter Denver in a house haunted by a ghost. When Paul D, a friend of Sethe and her missing husband since they all were still slaves, arrives and moves in with them, long repressed memories and feelings start to resurface. The most haunting of them are related to the death of Sethe’s two-year old daughter, thought of as Beloved since that was the single word Sethe managed to have carved on the little girl’s pink tombstone. Paul D is doing his best to help Sethe (and Denver too) get over their sadness and isolation, and he even manages to take them out of the house and almost socializing with people. This happy event ends on a somewhat curious note: when the three of them return from the carnival they went to, they find a young girl sleeping near their house. Sethe takes her in and takes care of her — and in time she starts thinking of her not only as her daughter but as Beloved, the lost daughter, came back from the dead. |
While I couldn’t really identify with any of the characters (because I am convinced I cannot imagine in my wildest dreams how slavery really felt like), I have come to admire them nevertheless — precisely for having gone through and having survived my unimaginable. Sethe (the feminine form of Seth, the one who fathered the whole world) impressed and intrigued me the most by the way she seemed to have lost all her identity of herself other than seeing herself through her children — even when she is nearly dying she does not think of keeping herself, Sethe, alive but of keeping alive the mother of her children. It is this very devotion (love too thick, as Paul D calls it) that probably pushed Sethe to her desperate gesture that resulted in jail and loneliness ever since. Jail and loneliness both shared by Sethe’s daughter Denver too, and leaving their print in the girl’s mind: she lives with the fear that her mother could kill her any minute, and she’s also so lonely it is painful to watch her. So lonely that when Beloved appears and, together with Sethe, starts acting in their own rendition of the parable of the errant son, shutting Denver out almost completely, Denver is still happy Beloved exists, Beloved has returned and she is lonely no more.
While this is not the first book on slavery that crosses my path, I was nevertheless touched, once again, by the hard life those people had. Starting from the very things we now take for granted: like, for example, having a family. A luxury they could not afford, being separated and sold every which way. Also, the women were used for breeding purposes (obvious enough when one thinks about it but somehow the thought never crossed my mind) — ending up having lots of children (Baby Suggs, Sethe’s mother-in-law, had eight), usually with different fathers, children that were most of the times taken away at a young age.
The thing that touched me the most was their sense of not having a thing of their own and their knowledge that even their smallest pleasures, like looking at the moon (not to mention the privilege of loving someone), could be taken away. My mind has a bit of trouble imagining how that might be, how the fact that every single part of you belongs to someone else actually feels. Suffices to say that I was very happy those times are now through.
I have not decided yet how I feel about the main event of the story (what Sethe did to Beloved, what Sethe did to all her kids actually). Can it be understood, since it came from love? My initial thought would have been that well, slavery was probably that horrible to push Sethe that far. I was surprised though to notice that the other former slaves felt differently — they never forgave Sethe, although they all knew all the awful things and feelings slavery implies. Having decided that well then, the author has probably exaggerated pushing Sethe so far, to my amazement I have discovered that this part of the book is inspired from real events. It seems like some people really did feel so strong towards protecting their own from slavery. Which made me understand, once again, how awful being a slave actually was (I never thought it was a good thing, of course, but I don’t think I ever understood its depth and all its implications; truth be told, living in the world that I do, I probably won’t ever understand it completely either).
A quote, summing the things Sethe was so afraid of:
That anybody white could take your whole self for anything that came to mind. Not just work, kill, or maim you, but dirty you. Dirty you so bad you couldn’t like yourself anymore. Dirty you so bad you forgot who you were and couldn’t think it up.
What I liked most: Some of the metaphors. Such as the way Sethe thought of her unborn baby as a little antelope (”But she could not, would not, stop, for when she did the little antelope rammed her with horns and pawed the ground of her womb with impatient hooves.“, “The sound of that voice [...] kept the little antelope quiet and grazing.“). The way Paul D thought of his missing “red heart”, replaced by a tobacco bin rusted shut. The way Sethe’s mother-in-law discovered freedom, together with a heart of her own, beating in her own chest.
What I liked least: The supernatural parts. They sort of made the book feel less pregnant and less real.
I have also found the writing style to be somewhat disjointed at times. I think I see what the author’s been trying to do — giving the reader clues and letting him/her think up the rest on his/her own, and only then disclosing what had actually happened — but sometimes there were perhaps too few such clues, making me confused and as a consequence less interested in what might have happened.
Recommend it to? Anyone, it’s a Pulitzer winning book so it’s probably very good :)
More (possibly related) links:The Stepford Wives / Ira Levin
June 21st, 2009
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Genre: Satire (I didn’t necessarily see it as such but that’s what Wikipedia says about it) Main characters: Walter and Joanna Eberhart Time and place: the 70s (I think, that’s when the book’s been written); a fictional town called Stepford, in Connecticut Summary: Joanna and her family have just moved in Stepford, in search of a quieter life than the one in the city they used to live. They both sustain feminism so they are a bit taken aback on discovering that the only organization in town is a men only one. Wanting to fit in in their new community, Walter goes on and joins it nevertheless, thinking that, after all, the best way to change it is from inside. Joanna is trying to make some friends but she is horrified to notice that all women in town (with only two exceptions, both newcomers too) are seemingly obsessed with housework, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the actresses in TV commercials. They even have common features, all having big breasts and good looking figures. Things become even more mysterious after one of Joanna’s friends changes seemingly overnight, from a bad-mouthed astrology-obsessed proud-of-having-a-maid woman to one of “them”. |
Due to this being only a novella the characters are probably a bit less fleshed than the could have been. Nevertheless I think the author did a great job in portraying them. It was a bit amusing actually to see the antithesis between the “perfect” wives (their only interest in the world being to have the house always spotlessly clean) and the “others”, the normal ones (with normal houses, messy now and then, and also with normal interests outside the home). I liked the way the whole book seemed to say “I’ll take personality over extreme cleanness every day”, by always emphasizing the differences between the two. Just think that, for example, all the latest female newcomers in town are likable and easy to relate to: from Joanna herself, to smart mouthed Bobbie (my favorite), to their friend Charmaine who couldn’t help mentioning star signs about every sentence or so, to children’s books author Ruthanne. All very opposite to the rest of the Stepford wives, with so little personality one couldn’t tell them apart.
On the whole, while what happened to the poor town women saddened and scared me a little, what crept me out the most was the change in the men. Both Joanna’s family and Bobbie’s were happy ones when first moving in to town, with husbands that were both understanding and supportive to their wives. The very idea of them turning (seemingly) all of a sudden into, after all, their exact opposite (so much so that they never hesitated in doing bad things to the very people they previously swore to love and to cherish) made me more uncomfortable than everything else. Joanna and Walter entered the story as a tight team, going strong — no more than a few months later that team’s members ended up in arms, one against the other, leaving Joanna no one to turn to when the need arose. So very sad.
What I liked most: The very idea the book is based on — quite an original one for the 70s (or at least so it seems to me). I am also amused at the fact that the book and its subsequent movies have so made their way in the public consciousness that the term “Stepford wife” has actually entered common use :)
What I liked least: It’s not that big a deal but I find it a bit hard to believe that no one ever wondered what happens back then, when women first started changing. From the newspaper articles Joanna read at the library we can see it was a gradual change, how come no one started worrying seeing more and more of their acquaintances radically different from one day to another? (it can be argued, of course, that perhaps some women did worry and they either left or were forced into silence — either way, as I said, it’s not that big a deal and it doesn’t affect the story flow at all).
Recommend it to? Everyone. It’s a short and captivating read.
More (possibly related) links:The Master of All Desires / Judith Merkle Riley
June 16th, 2009
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Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy Main characters: Sibille Artaud de la Roque, Menander the Deathless Time and place: France, 16th century Summary: Sibille Artaud, the daughter of a minor noble, is fleeing her former life because she thinks she assassinated her future husband. She plans to go live with her aunt, a lady she hasn’t seen in years because her (Sibille’s) parents forbid her to. On the way there she mistakenly ends up in possession of the head of Menander the Deathless: an ex philosopher that it’s said to have made a deal with the devil and, because of that, cannot die. He swears he’ll grant his owner the fulfilling of every desire, only asking in exchange a very minor thing, the owner’s soul. While Sibille herself manages to stay strong and avoid temptation, the same cannot be said for… almost everyone knowing of the head’s existence actually: Queen Catherine de Medici, her rival, Diane de Poitiers, the Queen’s astrologer, Cosmo Ruggieri, Sibille’s husband to be, Sibille’s sister, Sibille’s father, and more. As they all try to steal Menander’s box at one time or another, they’re in for a surprise as the head keeps materializing at the side of his mistress Sibille. A thing that cannot end well for the innocent Sibille, right, as almost no one of those involved would think too much of murdering her in order to become the box’s new master. |
The book is filled to the brim with interesting characters. Sibille is a “poetess”, quite untalented but also quite persistent, interested in nature and preoccupied with cultivating what she calls her Superior Self. Offspring of a difficult father who never hesitated to treat her bad, her greatest bane are her (supposedly huge, as everyone wonders about them) feet. Her aunt Pauline is one of my favorite characters in the book: wise in her own way, learned, with an incredibly sharp tongue and afraid of nothing (not even the ghosts swarming her home). Speaking of sharp tongue, Menander himself should perhaps be mentioned here, although he is by no means a match for the aunt. Another interesting character is Nostradamus himself, a grumpy old man that nevertheless never hesitates to put himself in the job of good (although he does complain a lot :P ). There was only one character I didn’t find as interesting as the rest, and a pretty important too: Nicholas Montvert, the banker’s son and Sibille’s love interest. Oh well, to be honest the rest of the cast quite makes up for it; I would have preferred perhaps a wittier main hero but on the whole it doesn’t detract much from the overall interestingness.
Besides the characters I have very much enjoyed the book due to its twists and turns — one very rarely knows what will happen next (and rest assured that plenty of things do happen). Add to that historical characters, prophecies, ghosts, spirits and love potions and you will probably start to get an image about the story depicted between the covers.
It is perhaps interesting to notice that, while the overall tone is mostly funny and flighty, there are some really serious issues “underneath it all”, the most important of them being, over and over again, the truth contained into that old saying “Be careful what you wish for”. The Night of St. Bartholomew is also hinted at, as are the hardships and tough times awaiting France in the next decades. Not to mention the very end of the world is obliquely discussed at one particular time.
In the end, a quote representing the Secret(s) of Happiness according to Nostradamus:
“The first secret is to find an excellent life partner. The second, is to take up a profession of interest, and the third is to do good wherever you find the opportunity presents itself.”
What I liked most: While the whole book was filled with elements I found enjoyable, the one thing that impressed me the most is the very title: “The Master of All Desires” sounds so … encompassing to me. Perhaps the fact that I am not a native English speaker helped my seeing it so, but to me the word “desire” evokes also a hidden component, and a powerful one too. Like something you’ve always wanted so much you never even dare tell people about it (I know that this is not the actual sense of the word but this is what it makes me think of). As such, the idea of a “master of all desires”, someone who can grant one all his/her deepest wants, is… well, let’s just say I do understand why everyone who hears of it wants to have it :)
What I liked least: I actually loved this book on the whole. Not even the fact that certain liberties were taken when dealing with real historical figures has actually bothered me (it seemed very carefully done).
Recommend it to? Anyone, because I found it quite a fast and interesting read, with some fun bits sprinkled in too. Doubly recommended to historical fiction fans :)
Zorro / Isabel Allende
June 13th, 2009
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Genre: Historical Fiction Main characters: Diego de la Vega / Zorro Time and place: Alta California and Spain, 1790 – 1840 Summary: The novel starts with a then young officer, Alejandro de la Vega, making his way through world. Soon, he meets a young woman and falls madly in love. He has a son, Diego, that, at age 10, is sent to a school in Barcelona. It is there where Diego becomes a fearless swordsman and a protector of justice. It is there where Diego loses his heart. It is there where Diego becomes the black clad Zorro. It is there where the legend begins. |
For some reason I was expecting this to be an enchanting book: swordfights, a masked hero, a fiery love story. I ended up being disappointed though. First of all because of the way the story is told: long narrative pieces, with very little dialogue. Also, the story is told by one of the characters, which means we didn’t have access to the other characters’ inner life. The result? With a few exceptions, all characters seemed very flat to me and I couldn’t bring myself to care about them.
Let’s take Zorro for example. Young Diego de la Vega is a good guy, preoccupied by justice, but also shy in the presence of girls. Add to that the fact that he is quite proud of his feats (understandably enough perhaps, who wouldn’t have been in his stead) and that is almost everything we know of him. He simply doesn’t manage to raise himself off the paper. The same goes for almost everyone else — perhaps with the exception of Isabel de Romeu, my favorite character, who manages to express herself through words because she never shies in telling exactly what she thinks, so we get to know her a bit better than the rest. I also liked Toypurnia, and regretted (as is the case with Isabel too) that she didn’t get to appear in some more pages and do some more things.
They always say that in a review one should write about the book that is not the book the reader would have wanted to see. True, but a bit hard for me in this particular case. In my younger days I used to be a fan of (almost) every Zorro movie that I got to see — I sort of expected the book to follow the same pattern: Zorro, placed in difficult situations, manages to make justice prevail while, at the same time, finding his perfect mate. The book is vastly different though. I did enjoy some of the parts of Diego’s history and the very fact that we got to see him becoming Zorro, how did it happen, what brought it to him, etc. But there were other parts that I have found quite forced though: his communicating to his “brother” via telepathy, his becoming a part of a secret society and some more. To me these seemed mostly implausible, instead of adding charm to the story, as I imagine the author had wanted.
As a bit of trivia, Diego is Gemini — hence his dual nature. I was amused by it since I am a Gemini too :P
Here is a quote describing a moment I think characterizes Diego/Zorro quite well:
The masked man mounted his steed. To thrill the children, he whistled, and his mount whirled and reared; then he pulled out his sword and flashed it, making it glint in the lantern light, and sang a verse that he himself had composed during the idle months in New Orleans: something about a valiant horseman who rides out on moonlit nights to defend justice, punish evildoers, and slash a Z with his sword. The song beguiled the children but increased Padre Mendoza fear that the man was out of his mind.
Yes he was that vain, to start singing a song about himself, all of the sudden. Were I in Padre Mendoza’s place (seeing a guy on the black horse all of the sudden starting to sing) I would fear for his sanity as well. :P
What I liked most: the way the author has imagined the well known characters: Diego is the son of an officer and an Indian “warrior queen”; Bernardo, instead of being Diego’s servant, is his Indian “milk brother”, not dumb but not speaking because of a childhood shock; the fat sergeant Garcia used to be a childhood friend of Diego’s and so on — thus adding a history and depth to the story.
What I liked least: the lack of a strong enough heroine — I was especially bothered by the fact that the one who becomes Diego’s wife has to be one of the flattest female characters I had ever encountered :| (I do realize that the author was going for “something different” with her version of the story, but still)
I was also a bit bothered about the Z marking. When Diego was in Spain there was a lot of uproar about a guy dressed in black, wearing a mask and calling himself Zorro, who helped some prisoners escape and left a Z mark on one wall. Now that Diego is back in California, a guy dressed in black, wearing a mask and calling himself Zorro, helps some prisoners escape and leaves behind a Z mark. Can there be any question at all about the identity of the man?? Could he have been any more obvious?
Recommend it to? Although I wasn’t particularly excited by this book, I do recommend it to all Zorro fans — who knows, perhaps some will see in it a lot more than I did.
More (possibly related) links:The World According To Garp / John Irving
May 27th, 2009
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Genre: Drama Main characters: T.S. Garp, Jenny Fields Time and place: from 1942 ’til many years later; US and Vienna, Austria Summary: The book starts by introducing Jenny Fields, a no-nonsense nurse that wanted a child but did not want to have anything to do with men. She ends up pregnant with the dying Technical Sergeant Garp’s child (conceived without the father’s being aware of it), thinking it the perfect solution to her problem. She has a son, a boy, who she names T.S. Garp (T.S. standing for Technical Sergeant). This is the life story of little Garp: his marriage, his worries, his fears, the stories he wrote, his children, his happy times, his sorrows — they are all packed into this volume, inviting the reader to see and share the world according to Garp. |
I think the author has done a great job when it comes to the characters, as none of them is a cliche and all of them are very believable. Starting with Garp, the eternal worrier and the writer who had trouble writing because the lines between reality and fiction started to blur. Continuing to his mother, Jenny Fields, the feminist symbol who never once felt or understood lust. To Roberta Muldoon, ex-Robert and ex-Philadelphia Eagle, who sort of got the best of both worlds (knowing first hand how men think but being and acting like a woman). To Duncan, the one-eyed one-armed painter. To Bainbridge Percy nicknamed Pooh. To, last but not least, Ellen James, the young rape victim who started a whole current, becoming a symbol for desolate women everywhere (although she never approved of them).
Speaking of Ellen James, I was very shocked when I first read about the women who called themselves Ellen Jamesians — women who cut off their tongues “to protest what happened to Ellen James”, women that “must have suffered, in other ways, themselves”. To me it seemed an unspeakably horrible thing for someone to bring upon herself, regardless of their message :( I couldn’t help feeling sorry for them too though.
A quote of Garp’s that I have found interesting:
“‘If you are careful,’ Garp wrote, ‘if you use good ingredients, and you don’t take any shortcuts, then you can usually cook something very good. Sometimes it is the only worthwhile product you can salvage from a day: what you make to eat. With writing, I find, you can have all the right ingredients, give plenty of time and care and still get nothing. Also true of love. Cooking, therefore, can keep a person who tries hard sane.’”
And another one:
“To Garp, [TV's] glow looks like cancer, insidious and numbing, putting the world to sleep. Maybe television causes cancer, Garp thinks; but his real irritation is a writer’s irritation: he knows that wherever the TV glows, there sits someone who isn’t reading.”
Were I to be asked to describe the plot in more detail, I will probably find it quite hard — because there aren’t that many important facts in the book. I’ll just rephrase that. There are very few, if any, outstanding facts in the book: there are so many of them important and worth mentioning that I would have trouble choosing between them. This is probably why I have found interesting the way the author put it in the afterword in my edition: show
What I liked most: The Under Toad. The way Garp’s first short story came to be (at first he knew he wanted to write about a family; then, after a while, he chose what the father does for a living; and so on). Mentions of Vienna, having been there many times myself. The epilogue.
What I liked least: The first stories Garp wrote/told half horrified half saddened me. Especially the one about the dog and the cat he tells Walt one evening. Ugh. I cannot see anything remotely beautiful in that. They almost made me hate the book.
Recommend it to? Anyone :) Although I myself liked the book somewhat less than I thought I would, I do think it’s set to become a classic and as such I recommend everyone to give it a try. With a wee bit of reserve regarding the language (explicit every now and then).
Written by the same author:
The Cider House Rules
