Wednesday Reading Meme
Jan. 29th, 2020 07:19 amWhat I’ve Just Finished Reading
“A priest once told me that grief is not a duty. You should let it come and go as it will and not bind it to you with iron hoops.”
This quote comes from Vivien Alcock’s Singer to the Sea God, which is only intermittently a book about grief, so the quote is not really representative, but it stuck with me nonetheless.
As to what it is about when it’s not about grief? I’m not quite sure about that: I felt it was more diffuse than the other Alcock books that I’ve read, and perhaps didn’t ultimately come together as a whole, although I did admire Alcock’s project to delve into the world of ancient Greek myths through the eyes of the little people often ignored: Phaidon and his friends begin the book as slaves in a king’s court, and escape only after the king and most of his nobles are turned to stone by Perseus with Medusa’s head.
Singer to the Sea God is the last of the Alcock books my local library has available (the other two were The Mysterious Mister Ross and The Monster Garden), but I’ve found another source for some of her other books. Any particular recommendations? I seem to recall hearing nice things about The Stonewalkers.
What I’m Reading Now
Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments! I’m about halfway through and CALLING IT NOW,
( Spoilers )
Non-spoilery reaction: I’m not sure, upon reflection, that rereading The Handmaid’s Tale right before The Testaments was the best idea. The Handmaid’s Tale is a great book, which means that The Testaments, while good, can’t help but suffer by comparison. It’s also, as![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
troisoiseaux observed, a much more conventional modern dystopian tale: a story about resistance, whereas The Handmaid’s Tale is about resignation, about a woman living under a regime she despises but has no power to change.
The story closest to the original Handmaid’s Tale in atmosphere is Agnes’s story about her childhood in Gilead. This is also the story that offers the most on-the-ground worldbuilding detail about Gilead, and so far it is my favorite in the book.
What I Plan to Read Next
The 2020 Newbery winners have been announced! The big winner this year is Jerry Craft’s New Kid, and there are also four (!) Honor books: Kwame Alexander’s The Undefeated (which also won the Caldecott Medal for the word of illustrator Kadir Nelson), Christine McKay Heidicker’s Scary Stories for Young Foxes (I’ve heard good things about this one: probably the one I’m most looking forward too), Jasmine Warga’s Other Words for Home, and Alicia D. Williams’ Genesis Begins Again.
“A priest once told me that grief is not a duty. You should let it come and go as it will and not bind it to you with iron hoops.”
This quote comes from Vivien Alcock’s Singer to the Sea God, which is only intermittently a book about grief, so the quote is not really representative, but it stuck with me nonetheless.
As to what it is about when it’s not about grief? I’m not quite sure about that: I felt it was more diffuse than the other Alcock books that I’ve read, and perhaps didn’t ultimately come together as a whole, although I did admire Alcock’s project to delve into the world of ancient Greek myths through the eyes of the little people often ignored: Phaidon and his friends begin the book as slaves in a king’s court, and escape only after the king and most of his nobles are turned to stone by Perseus with Medusa’s head.
Singer to the Sea God is the last of the Alcock books my local library has available (the other two were The Mysterious Mister Ross and The Monster Garden), but I’ve found another source for some of her other books. Any particular recommendations? I seem to recall hearing nice things about The Stonewalkers.
What I’m Reading Now
Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments! I’m about halfway through and CALLING IT NOW,
( Spoilers )Non-spoilery reaction: I’m not sure, upon reflection, that rereading The Handmaid’s Tale right before The Testaments was the best idea. The Handmaid’s Tale is a great book, which means that The Testaments, while good, can’t help but suffer by comparison. It’s also, as
troisoiseaux observed, a much more conventional modern dystopian tale: a story about resistance, whereas The Handmaid’s Tale is about resignation, about a woman living under a regime she despises but has no power to change. The story closest to the original Handmaid’s Tale in atmosphere is Agnes’s story about her childhood in Gilead. This is also the story that offers the most on-the-ground worldbuilding detail about Gilead, and so far it is my favorite in the book.
What I Plan to Read Next
The 2020 Newbery winners have been announced! The big winner this year is Jerry Craft’s New Kid, and there are also four (!) Honor books: Kwame Alexander’s The Undefeated (which also won the Caldecott Medal for the word of illustrator Kadir Nelson), Christine McKay Heidicker’s Scary Stories for Young Foxes (I’ve heard good things about this one: probably the one I’m most looking forward too), Jasmine Warga’s Other Words for Home, and Alicia D. Williams’ Genesis Begins Again.
