Read this Book! Of Bees and Mist

Picture coming soon (I realized the one I took from Amazon didn't work, so I will have to do my own.)

Here's another one I recently finished and enjoyed immensely. Now, I'm not impartial, I love books like this - ones with the lush feel of a fable, with liberal sprinklings of seemingly impossible things, mixed in with all-too-human relationships - but I know they're not for everyone. Find me an author that treats his/her stories with dream-like logic, where it makes perfect sense that a woman's hateful words would conjure a fleet of angry bees, or a staircase can stretch or shrink depending on what is happening at it's base, and I will probably be a happy reader.

But, beyond the fantastical plot elements, I really enjoyed the quality of Erick Setiawan's writing. There's a certainty, an assured feeling of truth-telling that any good oral storyteller would appreciate, that makes it a pleasure to read. The closest book I can compare it to is "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which is high praise indeed, as I happen to think "One Hundred Years.." is one of the best books ever written, ever.

Short synposis (written quickly by me) is:

Meridia has grown up in a house filled with heavy silences, dark mutterings, mysterious mists, and obstinate ghosts. But life doesn't get easier when she meets her true love and moves in with his family, where she washes up against the soft-edged cruelty of her mother-in-law, who can wield words like weapons (or, in this case, ferocious bees) and is used to controlling the world as she sees fit. Meridia, taking lessons from her own mother as well as her mother-in-law, develops from a shy young girl to a woman of formidable strength and heart.

So, yeah, I loved this book. I loved the storytelling, I loved the feeling of gently being pulled along the narrative, I loved the characters of Meridia and Ravenna, Malin and Permony. I loved the sounds of the names, and how they rolled around on the edge of my tongue.

Read this if you like: Magic Realism, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Oral storytelling traditions

Don't Read it if: you don't enjoy books that play with fantastical elements to impart a story

Bonus! I got this in the Sale section of a Chapters. It's a beautiful hardcover version I picked up for less than $7.00! You may find it there, too! (Good luck!)

Up Next: The Order of Odd-Fish

Read this Book! The Habitation of the Blessed: A Dirge for Prester John

(Image fromAmazon.ca)

So I thought I should start this little blog out with the book that somehow inspired me to write about what I was reading. Why this book? I don't know, it was just so good. I've read several of Catherynne M. Valente's books now, and I've thoroughly enjoyed them all. No one else writes like she does. They really don't. Why isn't everyone reading her books already?

Catherynne's writing is so lush and full of imagery, but unlike some authours, the imagery is never distracting. Instead, it leads you down a mysterious and exotic path to wonders brand new and myths that seem ancient, and lurk in your mind's eye for a long time afterward. You can taste these words.

"The Habitation of the Blessed" is similar to "The Orphan's Tales" (some of her previous works) in structure, in that it is several stories interwoven together into one beautiful, soul-stirring tapestry. The short synopsis (written quickly by me) is:

It's about a monk in the 16th century, named Brother Hiob, who is travelling East to find the Kingdom of Prester John. He comes across a strange town, where he is offered the chance to pluck three fruits from a mysterious tree that grows books. The books he chooses reveal the story of Prester John from three different viewpoints, including Prester John's own, and are each full of amazing stories. Oh, the places these stories go... But the books themselves are just as bewitching...

Read this book! Take this journey! It's like a 32-fruit salad - it will keep exploding on your tongue. There were times, reading this book, when I felt like she had just created a new language - one that speaks directly to our sense of beauty and mystery - it's just too good to be using the same words that the rest of us use. (Although when was the last time you heard the word "Dirge"? That's a word that I would really like to use more often. It's a gem!)

Read this if you like: Visual Poetry, Myths, Letting your imagination explore, Playing with language

Don't read it if: You don't like anyone messing with History or Jesus

While this is a complete story (or stories) on it's own, it is only Volume One. I'm definitely looking forward to the next one! (couldn't you tell?)

Up Next: Of Mist and Bees