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Deathless, by Catherynne M Valente
Mar. 21st, 2015 08:47 pmI found a Valente book I'm capable of enjoying!
I read her Orphan's Tales duology a number of years ago because it sounded SO MUCH up my alley, but I just found it overwrought and uninteresting. And since then I kept on hearing about her new books and going "OOOOH" because the ideas and themes and whatever are things I enjoy! (for example: SHE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT PRESTER JOHN.) But having the Orphan's Tales as an example of her writing was a warning to me.
Eventually I decided to give her a second chance and began the first of her Fairyland books because I heard it was more accessible than her other stuff, but I just....nope. And I decided it was time to give up and acknowledge that Valente was not for me.
And then Deathless came out and it sounded EVEN MORE up my alley than any of her previous works (A RETELLING OF KOSCHEI THE DEATHLESS!!!!) and I was like, do I dare give it a try? And I waffled for years and finally I just couldn't resist. (and to tell the truth, the degree to which I love the cover of the book was an important factor in my decision)
AND IT TURNS OUT I LOVE IT.
I mean, it still has some of her usual issues. Occasionally it is weird in ways that don't actually add anything to the book, occasionally she's too opaque (WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THE LAST PAGE OF THIS BOOK, I'M NOT CONVINCED I'M UNDERSTANDING YOU CORRECTLY), and quite often she tips over into overly-purple prose that just makes me roll my eyes and skim.
But overall it is atmospheric in a mostly good way, feels marvelously and gloriously like a fairy tale, and blends the fairy tale impressively well into real life Russian history. And I find Marya Morevna very interesting, and love her complicated relationship with Koschei.
It's the novelized retelling that the story of Koschei the Deathless deserves, and I'm very happy I read it.
I read her Orphan's Tales duology a number of years ago because it sounded SO MUCH up my alley, but I just found it overwrought and uninteresting. And since then I kept on hearing about her new books and going "OOOOH" because the ideas and themes and whatever are things I enjoy! (for example: SHE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT PRESTER JOHN.) But having the Orphan's Tales as an example of her writing was a warning to me.
Eventually I decided to give her a second chance and began the first of her Fairyland books because I heard it was more accessible than her other stuff, but I just....nope. And I decided it was time to give up and acknowledge that Valente was not for me.
And then Deathless came out and it sounded EVEN MORE up my alley than any of her previous works (A RETELLING OF KOSCHEI THE DEATHLESS!!!!) and I was like, do I dare give it a try? And I waffled for years and finally I just couldn't resist. (and to tell the truth, the degree to which I love the cover of the book was an important factor in my decision)
AND IT TURNS OUT I LOVE IT.
I mean, it still has some of her usual issues. Occasionally it is weird in ways that don't actually add anything to the book, occasionally she's too opaque (WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THE LAST PAGE OF THIS BOOK, I'M NOT CONVINCED I'M UNDERSTANDING YOU CORRECTLY), and quite often she tips over into overly-purple prose that just makes me roll my eyes and skim.
But overall it is atmospheric in a mostly good way, feels marvelously and gloriously like a fairy tale, and blends the fairy tale impressively well into real life Russian history. And I find Marya Morevna very interesting, and love her complicated relationship with Koschei.
It's the novelized retelling that the story of Koschei the Deathless deserves, and I'm very happy I read it.
