O my!

What a month I've been having!

Sarah Frost at And the Pilcrow ¶ writes:

What did you just finish reading?

Cloud & Ashes: Three Winter's Tales by Greer Gilman. What a beautiful book! I had my doubts at the beginning -- the first two stories are very difficult, bordering on incomprehensable, but they are there for a reason. They set the stage for the third story, which is all about myth and magic and the desire to know, and the ability of human compassion to change the fundamental nature of the world.

This is not an easy novel. Much of it is written in dialect -- in different dialects, as there are noticeable class differences in the way people speak. This book made me wish that I was reading it on my tablet, so I could look up words like "virginals" (a tabletop harpsichord) or "lief" (which in this context meant "beloved"). I had to do a lot of guessing from context and reading aloud... gressops for grasshoppers, for example, or ribands for ribbons. But I am glad that I did -- this book was worth the work. The way everything spirals to a close is gorgeous, and the end...! I won't spoil it.

"The desire to know"--yes!  Yes!

Earlier in her reading, she noted, "Except... it's a fantasy story in which the hero invents a telescope and discovers the moons of Jupiter. At this point in the story, I cringe whenever she sneaks out to go stargazing, because a young man has shown up and taken an interest in her. This is a book that remembers to show a pregnant woman's teeth falling out as her body devours itself to build her baby's bones. I don't expect it to shy away from anything."

Readers like this are why I write.

Nine