eaten alive

Regular readers of this blog (if such an irregular blog can be said to have regular readers) may know that I am a big fan of A.S. Byatt- I've loved her books ever since I read Possession at the end of high school. Despite this, there are still a lot of her books that I haven't read, and I just recently read her first book, The Shadow of the Sun. The Shadow of the Sun is about a young girl, Anna, in her late teenage years and trying to figure out what she should be, while at the same time feeling overshadowed by her father, a famous author. Enter Oliver, a family friend and academic, who agrees to tutor Anna to help her get into university, and becomes increasingly convinced she needs to decide what she should do with her life, and that he knows best what that is. When Anna successfully gets into Cambridge she continues to (somewhat listlessly) wonder about her purpose in life. Eventually she runs into Oliver again and, almost accidentally, they start an affair.

Image from Goodreads

I wouldn't say I loved this book, for one thing all the characters were maddening, and I took such a strong dislike to Oliver that I almost couldn't bear to continue reading. But it is an interesting book, it's often interesting to read a writer's first book because it illuminates some of the themes they go on to explore more in later books. In this case, Anna Severell is a pretty clear predecessor of Frederica Potter (from A.S. Byatt's later books The Virgin in the Garden, Still Life, Babel Tower and A Whistling Woman). Both are interested in English, both go to Cambridge, neither are particularly likeable (though not exactly unsympathetic) and both get involved with men who are fairly controlling. It's this last point that I find particularly interesting, because I think that is definitely a recurring theme in A.S. Byatt's work. Not that men are controlling, but that relationships can be stifling and consuming. It plays out somewhat ambiguously in her novels. In The Shadow of the Sun, Oliver comes to define Anna's personality, her future and her limitations. In Babel Tower, Frederica Potter's husband is physically and emotionally abusive, as well as unfaithful, but what troubles her the most is that he doesn't let her work- thus robbing her of some of her identity and independence. Interestingly, they are supposed to be very sexually compatible, at least to begin with, which is the basis for their relationship. Possession has a very ambivalent attitude toward sex, with Roland and Maud both feeling somewhat stifled and constrained by their relationships or sexual entanglements at the beginning of the book. The idea of 'possession' in a romantic sense encapsulates this ambivalence fairly well, I think.

What I really find interesting is how these ideas play out in culture more broadly. Earlier this year I read Marina Warner's From the Beast to the Blonde, which is about fairy tales and their transmission. In her chapter about Bluebeard, she writes "in myth and fairy tale, the metaphor of devouring often stands in for sex: ogres like Bluebeard eat their wives, we are told, even though the story itself reveals their bodies." The metaphor of devouring seems to fit so well into this idea of relationships. I actually like the idea of A.S. Byatt, who often weaves fairy tales into her stories, writing Frederica Potter's husband as a sort of Bluebeard who seeks to devour her, he even has a locked suitcase (full of only the pictures of the bodies of women, and if not dismembered, at least restrained). It's also a nice summing up of Angela Carter's Bluebeard story, which is both erotic and disturbing. As Marina Warner says, "[Bluebeard's] castle possesses the allure and dread of the strange". In Carter's story, at least, there is a happy ending- the heroine is not, in the end, devoured, and Bluebeard is defeated.

Wilson, Romer, editor. Red Magic: A Collection of the World's Best Fairy Tales from All Countries. Kay Nielsen, illustrator. London: J. Cape, 1930. From Sur la Lune.

The key is that though these stories have a sense of horror about them, and a cautionary air, they also have a certain allure or appeal. I've heard it said that Perrault's Bluebeard was meant as a way of preparing young women in the 17th century for marriage, and acknowledging their expectation and fear. Though it can't have been a very encouraging story for this audience. But this kind of story is not always told with a warning about Bluebeard as a moral. Many people have noted that Edward, from Stephanie Meyer's Twilight, is a very controlling and possessive hero, and not a great role model for young women to be looking for (or for young men to aspire to be). But maybe that is to miss the point- Edward is a kind of demon lover (he is a vampire after all)- and that level of possessiveness has a certain fascination I think, which clearly has appeal for many. Of course, for Bella, Edward is the happy ending, she doesn't end up happily free of him like Bluebeard's wife. But he does endanger her- particularly through her pregnancy to him (I haven't actually read that far in the books, but I have read summaries, so that's all I'm going off here). For Marina Warner, too, pregnancy is a likely source of dread and danger to fairy tale heroines- considering that most fairy tales were written in times of high maternal mortality. This is one of the reasons sex, and marriage, was a cause for trepidation- for both Bella and Perrault's audience. And maybe one of the reasons  Twilight was so successful, however much we might disapprove of it, it that it taps into this cultural narrative of love and obsession, of power and control, that is such a force of fear and fascination. When I start looking for themes, I start to see them everywhere, and sadly a line in the xx song Islands- "I am yours now, so now I don't ever have to leave"- which I always felt was so romantic, has started to sound quite sinister. But which is it really? Maybe the lesson here is that the answer isn't so clear cut. 

life and books

Well, every time I plan to get into the swing of regular updates I seem to fail! So sorry about that... I do have some exciting news though. I got a new job! I'm now working as a librarian at a university. I'm really happy to be there, but it means I'm no longer working part-time and I have a longer commute, so recently things like writing (and even reading) blogs have fallen by the wayside a little. Hopefully this will change once I've settled in a bit more.

Happily, I have had time for reading books (in fact, lots of time on my commute) and I've been reading a few things that I've really enjoyed. I've been in the mood for fantasy and fantastical books lately, which has been helped by a couple of book group picks- the magic realism of The Master and Margarita and the sci-fi of Inverted World (which was quite strange, and a lot of us found the ending fairly unsatisfying). My two most recent reads have been Among Others by Jo Walton and Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan, both of which I liked so much I wanted to talk about them a little bit.

From Goodreads

Among Others is about Morwenna (Mor), a teenage girl from Wales in the 1970s, whose life is set in disarray when she and her twin sister, with the help of the fairies, foil a plot by her mother to magically take over the world. The story is set in the aftermath of this, with Mor living in an English boarding school under the care of her father, who left when she was young, and her twin sister dead. It's a strange fantasy book, with the details of the magical confrontation never really clear, and the magic itself so peripheral and, as Mor puts it, "plausibly deniable", so that you could argue that it is not really fantasy at all. But it is a book about fantasy, as Mor is an avid reader of fantasy and sci-fi, and writes about the books she is reading regularly in her diary. 

On the one hand, this book frustrated me- occasionally Mor's reflections come across as fairly moralising, and there was a distressing incident with her father that is kind of brushed aside quickly. Also, it is written as a teenage girl's diary, and that is a form of writing that can be annoying. But it also really charmed me, maybe not least because I was once a teenage girl living in a boarding school, avidly reading fantasy (though not so much sci-fi). I think a lot of readers will probably relate, at least a little, to the character. It's also a lovely coming-of-age (with books) type story, and the way that magic is included so subtly but as such a strong influence on the heroine's life was well done. It did, however, make me feel really inadequate in my reading- there are so many classic sci-fi books and authors listed here, and although I recognise the names I've read hardly any of them (like Heinlein, Zelazny, Arthur C. Clarke). Though it is a bit of an inspiration to read some of those books!

From Goodreads

I've come across Margo Lanagan's Sea Hearts in bookshops often, but though it looked interesting I never got around to buying it. Then I realised I could borrow it from the library! Genius.

Basically, Sea Hearts is a story about selkies. On a small island, a girl called Misskaella discovers she can bring women (and men) out of the seals that visit the rocks. Feeling badly treated by the people of the island, she decides to bring out seal-women for the men who ask her- for a price- partly for the income, and partly for revenge.  The seal-women are so enchanting that soon all the men on the island want sea wives rather than land wives, and upheaval follows.

The story is told from a number of different perspectives, but never by a sea wife. It's a story that made me frustrated for a long period- not because the book is bad, but because the idea of selkies is so sad. They are always so quick to pick up their seal skins and return to the sea when they have the chance. In this book, everyone suffers- the selkies, the men who love them and the women. But it's beautifully told, and I loved the island- the descriptions made me think of the Hebrides, but it might be meant to be more based on the islands near Ireland. In any case, it is a small community where life is centred around the sea, but the sea is so many different things. In the end, a satisfying story. And selkies are sadly underrepresented in fiction I think.

I think I'll keep looking for fantasy for a while- any great books that have come out lately?

three links

It feels like there have been a lot of distractions around lately, so I thought why not share some of these distractions with the world?

Firstly, a list of books mentioned or read on the Gilmore Girls! This is a fun reading challenge idea as well. For fellow Gilmore Girls fans- enjoy! I found it through Book Dirt.

Secondly, Ronni's boyfriend has started a blog with another medievalist friend about the Anglo-Saxon riddles, called The Riddle Ages. Since uni ended I haven't been reading much Old English at all, and I miss it, so I'm hoping that this blog sticks around. The riddles are largely found in the Exeter Book, a manuscript which also contains most (all?) of the poems known as the elegies- which are my particular favourites- and some riddles have similarities with the elegies. They can be very poetic, and there is the added fun of trying to solve the riddles. I'm looking forward to reading a discussion of the possible solutions. So far there is an introduction to Old English riddles and Old English text and translations of three riddles. Definitely worth a look, especially if you're interested in Medieval literature.

Thirdly, and perhaps my favourite, is this blog about Sydney- particularly its history, its hidden and forgotten spots. I found Mirror Sydney through a tweet about this post on 'memorial stores': "shops that are no longer open but remain a part of the street, quietly anachronistic." It's a chronicle of pyschogeography, urban exploration and history. The author, Vanessa Berry, also has a blog called Biblioburbia, a blog about Sydney libraries.

I don't know how interesting this is to people who don't live in Sydney- do I just love reading these things because it's my home? I do love reading about cities- I particularly enjoy urban fantasy set in London with lots of London history and geography wrapped up in it- but I rarely read these more personal and detailed perspectives. The one London blog I really enjoy is Everyone in Dalston is Weird, which kind of reminds me of my own home, but is sadly not very regularly updated. So Sydneysiders, nostalgic ex-Sydneysiders, and anyone interested in having a glimpse into life in Sydney, I highly recommend Mirror Sydney.

recent reads

I thought I was getting onto a roll with blogging, but then February happened and no blogs got written at all! Worse than that, even, is that I got into a bit of a reading slump, though I had to push through to finish my book club book, which has helped. And I haven't even started my reading challenge yet! So what better way to get back into things than a short round-up of recent reading? Here are the last five books that I read:

Image from Goodreads

Unspoken - Sarah Rees Brennan

I ended up buying this because I couldn't get it from the library- and sadly I didn't get this cover, which I like, but the book itself made up for it. I really enjoy Sarah Rees Brennan's blog (I think I first heard about her from Ronni) and this book sounded great to me- it's a Gothic mystery YA book with a small English town, an aristocratic family with secrets and a telepathic connection between a high school girl and her 'imaginary friend' who turns out not to be imaginary. With a dash of romance. 

I have to say that I read The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan, and while I liked a lot of it (interesting concept, well-drawn characters) something didn't quite click for me. I'm not a big fan of fantasy about demons, and the writing style was not exactly my thing. I was keen to read the rest of the trilogy to find out what happened, but then I didn't get around to it. So I approached this book with excitement but also caution. But in the end I really enjoyed it! I think the writing worked well here, with the main character being quite bubbly and funny and there's a nice mix of light and dark. And I liked the romance, I know that she is kind of subverting the bad boy tropes of Gothic novels here, but I still got swept up in them because I enjoy them so much, and I really liked the relationship here between the main character, Kami Glass, and the boy in her head. Will definitely get around to reading the second book of these.

Image found on LibraryThing

The Long Ships - Frans G. Bengtsson

Again, I like this cover but it's not the one I read! I got this through inter-library loan, the first time I've actually done that at my local library. I feel like I saw this all over the blogosphere a little while ago, but I have just managed to find it on A Striped Armchair. It sounded very appealing to me- vikings! Adventure! Epics! And it delivered it all with a large sense of humour. This book was written in the 1940s but it definitely feels like you're stepping back into the past reading it- the characters and their attitudes feel very of their time. But while the characters' attitudes to women and slavery (for instance) are very foreign, they also manage to be quite likeable. I think Eva sums it up well in her blog post: "it manages to ‘feel’ medieval without being at all musty, upbeat without romanticising the period, and most of all very, very funny..." Plus it wins points in my book for having a chapter on the Battle of Maldon. 

Image from Goodreads

Wildwood and Under Wildwood - Colin Meloy illus. Carson Ellis

I'm lumping these two together because they are in the same series and I read them right next to each other. Not quite sure what I think of these though- I mean yes, again I do love the covers, I saw them in the bookshop and wanted to read them- and who can resist a magical wood sitting just outside the town limits? At times these feel like Joan Aiken, especially with the orphanage in the second book, and I found the political situation of Wildwood interesting, if unexpected. I love the underground tunnels in Under Wildwood  and there are some great moments with the bandits in particular. 

But then there were times when it felt too allusive, a bit too knowing, like the writer was winking at the reader. There were times when it was missing not as child-like or wonder-inducing as I could have hoped (it is a children's book). I'm not a child anymore, so I don't know how it would read if I was. Mostly I enjoyed it but occasionally it grated a little.

Inverted World - Christopher Priest

I'm not going to write too much about this because it is a book club book, and I'm saving it to discuss on Saturday. This is a sci-fi novel about a town which is always on the move, winched along on railway tracks, co-ordinated by a strict guild system, though tensions build between the guilds and those who stay inside the city. The concept reminded me of China Mieville's Iron Council (though of course this pre-dates it)- if you're looking for books about societies that move on railway tracks, these are two I would recommend.

Inverted World feels very sci-fi, with a focus on a concept rather than a character, though maybe that's unfair since it does concentrate on one character and it does talk a lot about perception. I'm sure I'll have some more interesting things to say about it after book club!


So there you go, all fantasy/sci-fi/adventure novels, a lot of children's or YA books and a lot of fun reading. At the moment I'm switching it up a bit and reading some non-fiction, though it is about fairy-tales- From the Beast to the Blonde by Marina Warner. I've heard a lot about this and have been meaning to read it for ages, so far it has talked a lot about the transmission of fairy-tales and about their tellers.

outside of experience

Today I was struck by a post over at a gallimaufry about reading things set in unfamiliar places- and how to visualise them- I wonder whether we can familiarise ourselves with different cultures by reading about them, or will we always miss something when we read about things we don't already know? Like when we figure out the meaning of words from their contexts, but sometimes find out years later that we've gotten them wrong (at least, I have done that).

Then I came across this post on facebook, which is a piece of writing memories of childhood in South India, and I was reminded of that idea again. Because in the piece I can recognise the nostalgia, even if I can't recognise the things the writer is nostalgic for.

This feeds into a lot of different ideas I guess, like the concept of the other, or maybe the subjectiveness of language and meaning sometimes, but I just thought maybe it was some interesting food for thought.

1990s - miss smilla's feeling for snow (1992)

Finally, and belatedly, my 2012 reading challenge comes to an end, with Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Høeg representing the 1990s. It's a book I've been meaning to read for ages, but have somehow never made it past the first page. But while on my beach holiday, accidentally without a book, I found a copy in a second hand bookshop and it seemed the perfect opportunity to finally read it and to finish off my Century of Books challenge at the same time.

In some ways this was an odd book to read on a summer holiday, after all the first sentence reads:

It is freezing, an extraordinary -18°C, and it's snowing, and in the language which is no longer mine, the snow is qanik - big, almost weightless crystals falling in stacks and covering the ground with a layer of pulverized white frost. (Note: I lent this book to my sister when I finished it so I had to look this up online and I'm not 100% sure if it's the translation I read)

While I was lying around trying to escape the heat, which was also extraordinary, hitting over 40°C (over 104°F), and watching bushfire smoke in the sky and on the news every night. But in other ways it was a good choice, not only because it's nice to escape the weather sometimes with a book set in a very different climate, but also because it was a very enjoyable mystery/adventure story that kept me reading, and made me read through it very quickly. I can't imagine why I had never gotten past the first page before, it's quite fast paced. 

Starting off as an investigation into the death of a child by his neighbour, Smilla, a woman in her 30s who is something of a loner, Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow ends up being something quite different, an adventure with a touch of sci-fi about it. It's set in Denmark, but Smilla herself is from Greenland, and the background to the story is the tension in her sense of identity as a Greenlander who was brought to Denmark to live by her Danish father after the death of her Inuit mother. More than that, it's also a story about the effects of colonisation. On another climate related note, it was interesting to read a book about colonisation in the context of extreme cold, I'm used to reading colonisation narratives in warm climates- that seems like a small thing but it did make it seem fresh and different. In reality there are a lot of cold-weather colonies, so it shouldn't seem so strange. Anyway, Smilla's background has given her an antipathy towards Denmark, but she also has a strong understanding of snow and ice (intuitive and academically honed), a love of Greenland and a dislike of getting close to other people. She's very resourceful and determined, managing to weather betrayal, a long stint at sea with a crew who are mostly trying to kill her and carrying on an investigation against the background of a sinister conspiracy. She's also pretty ruthless, which makes her an interesting heroine.

Being a thriller set in Scandinavia, in parts I was reminded of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (although this book has a lot less sexual violence!). It might just be that I'm not familiar with the broader thriller genre, but the background sense of corruption by a group with entrenched privilege was familiar, along the looming weight of history, including mentions of past links with Nazis. For me as a reader, this created a sense of menace and fascination. The sense of history shadowing the present was not only created through the mentions of past scientific expeditions and wartime activities, but also more personally in Smilla's memories of life in Greenland with her mother, and then as a child and teenager in Denmark.

There's quite a shift in the middle of the novel when Smilla boards a ship which seems to be bound for Greenland in search a a mysterious scientific find, with the detective story giving way to straight up adventure. As I mentioned before, it almost, but not quite, moves into science fiction territory, particularly when they reach their destination. This half of the book also felt less introspective and less political than the first half, though ultimately I think they tied together.

It's interesting how much the weather in this book affected the experience of reading it. It's a book that will make you feel cold, and it's a book in which snow and ice make a difference to events. So I guess it was the ideal book to cool down with on a hot day, and maybe a good book to read in the cold to appreciate the snowy weather? I wonder, is it more fun to read a book that resonates with your surroundings, or one that contrasts with them?

not wisely but too well

I've been reading Book Lust by Nancy Pearl recently and loving it- it's a collection of lists of books on different topics and to suit different moods put together by a booklover and librarian, and though it seems like an ideal book to dip in and out of I've pretty much been reading it cover to cover (it's helping with a small lack of reading inspiration as well). In the introduction she says:

I love to read. And while I may not absolutely agree with the Anglo-American man of letters Logan Pearsall Smith, who said, "People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading," I come awfully close to subscribing to his sentiment.

I was struck by this, and her dedication to her granddaughter "who I hope grows up loving to read, but not too much." It reminds me of the time a friend in high school told me that some day I would have to stop reading and start living. Of course, I immediately dismissed this, because isn't reading part of living (a vital part, even)? But sometimes I wonder, would I choose the world over a good book? Is it possible to love books too much?