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Joe Kessler

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Joe is Currently Reading

Joe Kessler is currently reading

Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor, #4)

by Jessica Townsend (Goodreads Author)

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3 hours, 32 min ago

Joe Kessler is currently reading

Doctor Who: Blood Heat

by Jim Mortimore

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3 hours, 33 min ago

Joe Kessler is currently reading

The Silver Chair (Chronicles of Narnia, #4)

by C.S. Lewis

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Joe Kessler said: " I'm not a big fan of the first half of this novel, in which the three protagonists -- a returning Eustace, his classmate Jill, and a rather miserable creature named Puddleglum -- are very nasty toward one another as they trek across the Narnian lands I'm not a big fan of the first half of this novel, in which the three protagonists -- a returning Eustace, his classmate Jill, and a rather miserable creature named Puddleglum -- are very nasty toward one another as they trek across the Narnian landscape. (Beyond just not being all that pleasant to read, it tends to undo a lot of our old hero's character development from the previous volume too.) But they grow more tender and loyal as the story unfolds, and the dark underworld at the end of their journey is a fascinating addition to our understanding of this realm. Really, one of the greatest strengths of the overall Narnia series is how each individual 'Chronicle' manages to stay connected with the others while practically reinventing the setting and the shape of the plot, so as to never rehash an earlier adventure.

As ever, the level of Christian allegory here can be pretty exclusionary; if you take as a metaphor for atheism the witch's taunts that Aslan and the sun aren't real because they can't be seen underground, anyone who similarly disbelieves will seem either wicked or foolish or both. Her torturous demand for the faithful to recant what they know in their hearts is also a fairly twisted version of the actual dynamic, which sees Christians persecuting and marginalizing the rest of the world far more than the opposite. But on the other hand, if you can manage to set all that subtext aside, the scene itself is a creepy display of gaslighting that is shockingly effective at demonstrating the antagonist's villainy.

It's ultimately hard not to be charmed by author C. S. Lewis, and there's some interesting thematic material that he likely hasn't intended but nevertheless feels quite welcoming to a queer reading of the text, from the children proclaiming that they've got to appear gay to their companion's insistence that he's a Marsh-wiggle and not a man. Those words may have carried different connotations back in 1953, but with a 21st-century perspective they invite a deeper consideration of gender than these books usually provide. Wrapped in a kidnapped-prince narrative that recalls fairy tales and ancient myths, this title is fun for all ages and proves that the writer still has plenty to say even without any of the original Pevensie siblings.

[Content warning for sexism, fatphobia, and alcohol abuse.]

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Jan 09, 2021 08:32PM · see review

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Joe’s Quotes

“When you handle books all day long, every new one is a friend and a temptation.”
― Elizabeth Kostovia, The Historian

tags: books

484 likes

“The charitable say in effect, 'I seem to have more than I need and you seem to have less than you need. I would like to share my excess with you.' Fine, if my excess is tangible, money or goods, and fine if not, for I learned that to be charitable with gestures and words can bring enormous joy and repair injured feelings.”
― Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter

101 likes

“Thoughts are ephemeral, they evaporate in the moment they occur, unless they are given action and material form. Wishes and intentions, the same. Meaningless, unless they impel you to one choice or another, some deed or course of action, however insignificant. Thoughts that lead to action can be dangerous. Thoughts that do not, mean less than nothing.”
― Ann Leckie, Ancillary Justice

158 likes

“Are you a storyteller, Thomas Covenant?"
Absently he replied, "I was, once."
"And you gave it up? Ah, that is as sad a tale in three words as any you might have told me. But a life without a tale is like a sea without salt. How do you live?"
... Unconsciously, he clenched his fist over his ring. "I live."
"Another?" Foamfollower returned. "In two words, a story sadder than the first. Say no more -- with one word you will make me weep.”
― Stephen R. Donaldson

79 likes

“…the trouble with oaths of the form, death before dishonor, is that eventually, given enough time and abrasion, they separate the world into two sorts of people: the dead, and the forsworn.”
― Lois McMaster Bujold, A Civil Campaign

tags: death, death-before-dishonor, in-the-end, inevitable, oaths, the-dead

32 likes

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