River, tell me a lesson about...
I've just finished reading Yume no Hon: The Book of Dreams by Catherynne M Valente. This little novel is about a hermit-woman called Ayako who lives in the shadow of a five-layered pagoda on the side of a mountain, and dreams up other selves and existences.
Yes, this is one of Valente's "weird ones", in the best possible way that a story can be weird. As usual her poetic prose is richly sensual, thick with wonderful images, and the ideas she weaves into the story are just as wonderful -- Oedipus and the sphinx's riddles; quantum physics (which, yes, I can wrap my head around); the fall of Troy and of her village at the same time; a Babylonian creation myth that becomes her own story of creation/reshaping. And more, of course.
I want to know what could have been spun from the lumpy black silk... perhaps I already know.
I shan't share the true beauty of this novel, the line near the end that brought a smile of sadness and happiness to my face -- that lesson is there, waiting, for the interested to learn, and I shan't spoil it. Suffice to say that this is a beautiful, moving tale, one that shall stay with me for a very long time, and I highly recommend it to any reader who (a) was intrigued by my review (obviously; I aim to intrigue), and (b) wants something very different to what they'll find on a high street bookshelf.
Minor point of interest: The book
comes in two cover-colours -- red or blue -- with a small variation in
the texts of each. Mine was actually the blue one, but the
amazon-vox connection only gave me the red one.
Comments
Sounds like a good novel.
I'm just learning my way around this blog, as I'm semi computer illiterate, it will take me some time. :)