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wilderthanI go away on holiday and this is what happens. Always. Inevitably. Review time!
Um, this may seem obvious, but. Reviews contain spoilers! Particularly the Inkworld reviews.
Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories (28/12/08)
I never actually read these as a kid. I remember having them read to me, but I never read them for myself. Which, as Phillip Pullman says in the introduction, is a shame, because they're wonderfully playful and easy to read, and even if there are words you don't understand (there weren't, for me now, but when I was little...) they're bright and lively and I can bet I'd have had more fun imagining what they might mean than actually finding out. These stories were definitely the kind I couldn't help but whisper to myself. I think they'd make even a non-synthesthetic taste the words. I enjoyed the illustrations and the notes that went with them, too. In general they were just playful and fun to read, even now I'm all growed up. I especially liked the armadillo one, but perhaps that's because it included a character called Stickly-Prickly Hedgehog, and I do adore hedgehogs. The next one we rescue in our garden will have to be called Stickly-Prickly, I think.
Ian McDowell's Mordred's Curse (28/12/08)
I'm not sure what I was expecting from this. It's light, easy to read, and completely irreverent. If you favour the courtly love version of Camelot, you'll be disappointed with this book. It's a very gritty, dirty, realist view of things. Mordred has a potty-mouth, and that's an understatement. There's also a lot of incest and things that are just plain gross, for example Merlin wanting to fuck a younger Mordred, and vivid descriptions of a coracle/boat made out of human skin. I quite liked it. It's interesting to see Mordred given a voice, and a human, sympathetic one at that. His confused feelings about his father and mother are well-expressed. My only trouble with the narrative is that it's sometimes a bit too light, a bit too off-hand. It's also sometimes very easy to get thrown out of the story when Mordred constantly points out that he's writing down his story, and refers to things that haven't happened yet, spoiling any surprises. It reminds me a little of Martin Amis' narrator in Money, John Self. It's the same kind of artificiality, along with the semi-obscenity, I think. Although Mordred's a tad more aware of the fictional nature of the narrative all the way through than John Self is. Regardless...
The characters seem to me to be mostly quick sketches rather than in-depth studies -- which is fine by me. A quick sketch often holds more life and vibrancy anyway. I liked Gawain a lot: he's just sensible, and trying to make the best way he can. He seems like the kind of guy anyone could get along with. Arthur himself is a difficult character. In some ways you can understand why other characters and a younger Mordred hero-worshipped him; in others, you kind of want to hit him for being a self-righteous twit. Which makes him a more realistic character, I suppose!
Also pleased to note that Arthur's court must be in Caerleon, since it's close to Caerwent. Overall, this is much closer to the original Welsh setting and feel, if not the storyline, rather than the French versions.
Looking forward to seeing what more McDowell does with all this in Merlin's Gift.
Ian McDowell's Merlin's Gift (29/12/08)
This sequel is again written from Mordred's point of view. He's still the same average guy, not quite a hero, but nothing terrible either. It's interesting how he gets Lancelot's role in this, but then, this book definitely isn't the kind in which our courtly lover would exactly fit. The fact that Mordred is starting to like Arthur again after all his bitterness toward him in the first book is realistic, and introduces a bit more conflict into it.
The first line of the book makes me snicker: "None of this would have happened if Guinevere's little sister hadn't grown a penis." It's actually exactly what happens, but it's still a funny first line. The storyline with Nimue being a guy is actually pretty interesting, even if it deviates from all the Arthurian canon I know of. Nimue's feelings toward Gawain are so cute. I wish Gawain had been in it more: he's the kind of character it's easy to like. Mordred, Arthur, Guinevere... they're all a little bit too complex, I guess. Gawain's simpler, and that makes him a bit more likeable. For me, anyway. The end makes me very, very sad, for this reason. Gawain deserved better. Although it was quite interesting, the two brothers meeting and talking for the last time, and then riding into battle against each other.
I enjoyed reading these two books. Not sure I'll read them again, but it was interesting to get this Mordred-orientated modern-flavoured view so soon after reading Malory's Le Morte Darthur.
Kath Filmer-Davies' Fantasy and Welsh Myth (29/12/08)
This one took me ages to get around to reading. It's an interesting subject. One doesn't think of Welsh culture as all that influential -- it is for me, since I'm Welsh and was raised to love my heritage very much, but for many people, Wales isn't even a separate country to England! -- but it is true that Welsh myth influences modern fantasy very, very much. And not only modern fantasy, honestly. Geoffrey of Monmouth, anyone? The theme of belonging is also interesting: the feeling of hiraeth is a very powerful motif, particularly if you feel it yourself.
Cornelia Funke's Inkspell (30/12/08)
There's a lot to like about Inkspell. I enjoyed the concept of Inkheart, and I like the way it's expanded here -- going beyond just reading characters out of books into going to live in books. That's the skill I'd like more, I think. If I could go and live in some of my favourite books... But again it feels like it's missing something. The story is interesting, it's easy to read, I identify with the characters and really really like some of them (Mo and Dustfinger, mainly), but... I end up abandoning it in favour of other books all the time. Normally it wouldn't take me this long to read it. I only really sat down to read it in such big chunks the last couple of days because I need to return it to its owner.
Anyway, I did enjoy a lot about the book. I thought the family reunion which also brought tensions instead of a pure happily ever after was good, quite interesting and realistic. Some of the descriptions of Inkworld are lovely, and the little details about it. The relationship between Dustfinger and Farid is sweet and what eventually happens because of it is heartbreaking. I like Fenoglio's little character arc, although I kind of want to kick him for being a pompous git, too. The relationship between Farid and Meggie is interesting, too, although I wish it was somewhat slower since Meggie certainly doesn't seem old enough for a passionate love affair!
The idea about Death ruling the story is interesting, and I'm sure from the title of the next book, Inkdeath, it'll be a continued theme. Bring it on.
Cornelia Funke's Inkdeath (01/01/09)
Unsurprisingly, given the title, Inkdeath is very, very preoccupied with death. The death of loved ones, the fear of death, cheating death, what happens after death... Reading it is almost like reading about the process of writing, as more and more detail is put into the world -- albeit from the inside. I do feel like all these books got rather needlessly complicated, that at some point it just went too far. I love the ideas and appreciate some of the things that happen and the way the characters are revealed by it, but for a slick, absorbing story, we could've done with a few less threads. It feels a little... cluttered, at times. There's so many villains, all at cross-purposes; so many heroes who keep getting parted and then reunited by a twist in the tale... and so on and so forth.
The characters get developed a lot more in this book. The fact that the book is third-person-not-very-limited, as I sometimes call it, kind of doesn't help. We see through so many different eyes that that doesn't help with the feeling of it being a little too cluttered. There's Farid, Meggie, Mo, Resa, Dustfinger, Orpheus, Elinor, Fenoglio... Sometimes it feels rather more like being told than being shown, because the narrative does get right up close to the characters.
I do like the characters and think they have some quite interesting quirks and storylines, though. Mortimer's interested me quite a lot: the whole dilemma about is he becoming the Bluejay because of what Fenoglio wrote, or is the Bluejay simply becoming more and more associated with Mortimer because the original character was based on him? The whole plotline about the White Women was interesting, too, their involvement with both Dustfinger and Mortimer. I didn't feel Resa or Roxane much as characters, but I did feel for Mortimer and Dustfinger being separated from them. I loved the part about Mortimer and Dustfinger becoming bound together. They already were, in some ways, but their relationship was so horribly complex. In a way, the fact that they can see eye to eye thanks to what happens in this book is a lovely thing.
Fenoglio's character began to annoy me quite a lot, in this book. He was already getting there in the last book, but he seemed to me everything that I can hate about authors: all pompous about his own work, obsessed with the idea of writer's block and blaming it on everyone else, and unwilling to admit that once a story is written it's out of your hands. He was quite a realistic character, but still an annoying one.
As for the ending, I was quite happy with it. I thought it quite realistic that Meggie ended up not being with Farid after all -- that was unexpected, actually. The happily ever after was nice, though, and the sense of the story continuing on beyond what's written on the page. Yay!
The Lais of Marie de France (02/01/09)
I studied Guigemar and Bisclavret, and I ended up wanting to read the rest of Marie de France's lais. Bisclavret is one of my favourites, really, possibly due to reading William Burgwinkle's criticism of it and being amused to see it as a gay love story. Most of the lais are short and very easy to read, dwelling on knights and their lovers. I quite liked Lanval, as well, the Arthurian lai. Some of them have little morals in them, some of them are just sweet little stories (or sometimes rather bitter little stories, like Yonec, in which the lady's beloved dies!). I like the translation, even if it's put into prose instead of the original verse: it's easy to read and captures the air of storytelling.
Um, this may seem obvious, but. Reviews contain spoilers! Particularly the Inkworld reviews.
Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories (28/12/08)
I never actually read these as a kid. I remember having them read to me, but I never read them for myself. Which, as Phillip Pullman says in the introduction, is a shame, because they're wonderfully playful and easy to read, and even if there are words you don't understand (there weren't, for me now, but when I was little...) they're bright and lively and I can bet I'd have had more fun imagining what they might mean than actually finding out. These stories were definitely the kind I couldn't help but whisper to myself. I think they'd make even a non-synthesthetic taste the words. I enjoyed the illustrations and the notes that went with them, too. In general they were just playful and fun to read, even now I'm all growed up. I especially liked the armadillo one, but perhaps that's because it included a character called Stickly-Prickly Hedgehog, and I do adore hedgehogs. The next one we rescue in our garden will have to be called Stickly-Prickly, I think.
Ian McDowell's Mordred's Curse (28/12/08)
I'm not sure what I was expecting from this. It's light, easy to read, and completely irreverent. If you favour the courtly love version of Camelot, you'll be disappointed with this book. It's a very gritty, dirty, realist view of things. Mordred has a potty-mouth, and that's an understatement. There's also a lot of incest and things that are just plain gross, for example Merlin wanting to fuck a younger Mordred, and vivid descriptions of a coracle/boat made out of human skin. I quite liked it. It's interesting to see Mordred given a voice, and a human, sympathetic one at that. His confused feelings about his father and mother are well-expressed. My only trouble with the narrative is that it's sometimes a bit too light, a bit too off-hand. It's also sometimes very easy to get thrown out of the story when Mordred constantly points out that he's writing down his story, and refers to things that haven't happened yet, spoiling any surprises. It reminds me a little of Martin Amis' narrator in Money, John Self. It's the same kind of artificiality, along with the semi-obscenity, I think. Although Mordred's a tad more aware of the fictional nature of the narrative all the way through than John Self is. Regardless...
The characters seem to me to be mostly quick sketches rather than in-depth studies -- which is fine by me. A quick sketch often holds more life and vibrancy anyway. I liked Gawain a lot: he's just sensible, and trying to make the best way he can. He seems like the kind of guy anyone could get along with. Arthur himself is a difficult character. In some ways you can understand why other characters and a younger Mordred hero-worshipped him; in others, you kind of want to hit him for being a self-righteous twit. Which makes him a more realistic character, I suppose!
Also pleased to note that Arthur's court must be in Caerleon, since it's close to Caerwent. Overall, this is much closer to the original Welsh setting and feel, if not the storyline, rather than the French versions.
Looking forward to seeing what more McDowell does with all this in Merlin's Gift.
Ian McDowell's Merlin's Gift (29/12/08)
This sequel is again written from Mordred's point of view. He's still the same average guy, not quite a hero, but nothing terrible either. It's interesting how he gets Lancelot's role in this, but then, this book definitely isn't the kind in which our courtly lover would exactly fit. The fact that Mordred is starting to like Arthur again after all his bitterness toward him in the first book is realistic, and introduces a bit more conflict into it.
The first line of the book makes me snicker: "None of this would have happened if Guinevere's little sister hadn't grown a penis." It's actually exactly what happens, but it's still a funny first line. The storyline with Nimue being a guy is actually pretty interesting, even if it deviates from all the Arthurian canon I know of. Nimue's feelings toward Gawain are so cute. I wish Gawain had been in it more: he's the kind of character it's easy to like. Mordred, Arthur, Guinevere... they're all a little bit too complex, I guess. Gawain's simpler, and that makes him a bit more likeable. For me, anyway. The end makes me very, very sad, for this reason. Gawain deserved better. Although it was quite interesting, the two brothers meeting and talking for the last time, and then riding into battle against each other.
I enjoyed reading these two books. Not sure I'll read them again, but it was interesting to get this Mordred-orientated modern-flavoured view so soon after reading Malory's Le Morte Darthur.
Kath Filmer-Davies' Fantasy and Welsh Myth (29/12/08)
This one took me ages to get around to reading. It's an interesting subject. One doesn't think of Welsh culture as all that influential -- it is for me, since I'm Welsh and was raised to love my heritage very much, but for many people, Wales isn't even a separate country to England! -- but it is true that Welsh myth influences modern fantasy very, very much. And not only modern fantasy, honestly. Geoffrey of Monmouth, anyone? The theme of belonging is also interesting: the feeling of hiraeth is a very powerful motif, particularly if you feel it yourself.
Cornelia Funke's Inkspell (30/12/08)
There's a lot to like about Inkspell. I enjoyed the concept of Inkheart, and I like the way it's expanded here -- going beyond just reading characters out of books into going to live in books. That's the skill I'd like more, I think. If I could go and live in some of my favourite books... But again it feels like it's missing something. The story is interesting, it's easy to read, I identify with the characters and really really like some of them (Mo and Dustfinger, mainly), but... I end up abandoning it in favour of other books all the time. Normally it wouldn't take me this long to read it. I only really sat down to read it in such big chunks the last couple of days because I need to return it to its owner.
Anyway, I did enjoy a lot about the book. I thought the family reunion which also brought tensions instead of a pure happily ever after was good, quite interesting and realistic. Some of the descriptions of Inkworld are lovely, and the little details about it. The relationship between Dustfinger and Farid is sweet and what eventually happens because of it is heartbreaking. I like Fenoglio's little character arc, although I kind of want to kick him for being a pompous git, too. The relationship between Farid and Meggie is interesting, too, although I wish it was somewhat slower since Meggie certainly doesn't seem old enough for a passionate love affair!
The idea about Death ruling the story is interesting, and I'm sure from the title of the next book, Inkdeath, it'll be a continued theme. Bring it on.
Cornelia Funke's Inkdeath (01/01/09)
Unsurprisingly, given the title, Inkdeath is very, very preoccupied with death. The death of loved ones, the fear of death, cheating death, what happens after death... Reading it is almost like reading about the process of writing, as more and more detail is put into the world -- albeit from the inside. I do feel like all these books got rather needlessly complicated, that at some point it just went too far. I love the ideas and appreciate some of the things that happen and the way the characters are revealed by it, but for a slick, absorbing story, we could've done with a few less threads. It feels a little... cluttered, at times. There's so many villains, all at cross-purposes; so many heroes who keep getting parted and then reunited by a twist in the tale... and so on and so forth.
The characters get developed a lot more in this book. The fact that the book is third-person-not-very-limited, as I sometimes call it, kind of doesn't help. We see through so many different eyes that that doesn't help with the feeling of it being a little too cluttered. There's Farid, Meggie, Mo, Resa, Dustfinger, Orpheus, Elinor, Fenoglio... Sometimes it feels rather more like being told than being shown, because the narrative does get right up close to the characters.
I do like the characters and think they have some quite interesting quirks and storylines, though. Mortimer's interested me quite a lot: the whole dilemma about is he becoming the Bluejay because of what Fenoglio wrote, or is the Bluejay simply becoming more and more associated with Mortimer because the original character was based on him? The whole plotline about the White Women was interesting, too, their involvement with both Dustfinger and Mortimer. I didn't feel Resa or Roxane much as characters, but I did feel for Mortimer and Dustfinger being separated from them. I loved the part about Mortimer and Dustfinger becoming bound together. They already were, in some ways, but their relationship was so horribly complex. In a way, the fact that they can see eye to eye thanks to what happens in this book is a lovely thing.
Fenoglio's character began to annoy me quite a lot, in this book. He was already getting there in the last book, but he seemed to me everything that I can hate about authors: all pompous about his own work, obsessed with the idea of writer's block and blaming it on everyone else, and unwilling to admit that once a story is written it's out of your hands. He was quite a realistic character, but still an annoying one.
As for the ending, I was quite happy with it. I thought it quite realistic that Meggie ended up not being with Farid after all -- that was unexpected, actually. The happily ever after was nice, though, and the sense of the story continuing on beyond what's written on the page. Yay!
The Lais of Marie de France (02/01/09)
I studied Guigemar and Bisclavret, and I ended up wanting to read the rest of Marie de France's lais. Bisclavret is one of my favourites, really, possibly due to reading William Burgwinkle's criticism of it and being amused to see it as a gay love story. Most of the lais are short and very easy to read, dwelling on knights and their lovers. I quite liked Lanval, as well, the Arthurian lai. Some of them have little morals in them, some of them are just sweet little stories (or sometimes rather bitter little stories, like Yonec, in which the lady's beloved dies!). I like the translation, even if it's put into prose instead of the original verse: it's easy to read and captures the air of storytelling.
