BoB: "...The View Through a Half-Closed Eye..."

[P. Aaron]

Li Kao's eyes were shining, and he happily punched my shoulder. "One should not be so miserly when it comes to a spectacular ending, and unless I am greatly mistaken, we are in for a whopper," he said. "Listen."

And so comes the end of our monthly read. I was, obviously, happy as a very happy clam that so many people were willing to take a flyer on the basis of my recommendation, and that T&V chose to respond to that despite the occasional headaches of getting ahold of a copy. If you haven't finished, please soldier on, I promise on the names of all the gods that it pays off in the end. Discussion will continue, no doubt, but this will be my last thread on the subject as discussion leader, so I wanted to say a few things.

I have struggled through this reading to be as objective as I could. I've looked hard for flaws, and think I identified some thought-provoking material.

Doesn't matter. This remains, for me, the best fantasy book I've ever read. I adore it utterly. The brilliance of the structure alone would likely place it in my top five, of any genre, ever. That Hughart manages to wrap up every single Dickensian coincidence, with the best-justified literal deus-ex-machina in the annals of literature, pushes it way over into the top eschelons. That in the meantime he also picks up characters with so much heart, complexity, and humanity is drippy fabulous frosting on my enjoyment cake.

In their encounter with Henpecked Ho, #10 Ox compares that scholar's plodding but prodigious mind to the brilliance of Master Li, who throws apparently unassociated ideas into the air until they magically form a necklace which fits perfectly around the throat of the subject. Hughart's novel does that with two subjects: power and love.

The aphorism carved into the labyrinth of the Duke of Ch'in exemplifies one side of human nature. "Punishment produces force..." it begins, and goes on to suggest that "virtue has its origin in punishment." That's an entire paradigm which dominates half of the world, and produces abominable bargains in the name of control and fear. The Old Man of the Mountain provides the most succinct metaphor for this mindset: you can live forever and know everything...all you have to do is remove your heart. It's a paradigm based on fear, of death and of powerlessness.

On the opposite side is the extremism of Miser Shen, a man driven insane by his own love. Somewhere in the middle reside all of us, from Doctor Death, whose inability to let go of his beloved, departed wife drives him to develop unstoppable poisons, to three murdered handmaidens who, though they may have been briefly faithless, demonstrate the ability to grow past their own flaws and into something terrible and wonderful in their struggle for redemption.

Tom is right in his comments on the podcast that Number Ten Ox is an everyman, an intentional cipher who wanders this fantastical landscape just trying to do the right thing in a very small way. That this happens to also be the only way to achieve greater cosmic justice is the moral of the story.

Tom is also right insasmuch as that means this isn't even really a fantasy novel. It's an allegory, in which the supernatural occurences are the direct metaphoric outgrowths of the various characters' interactions with those two determining forces, love and fear. Finding where I am in that landscape, where I most identify with the characters, is a personal measuring stick for my soul. As long as I still cry every time I read the Prayer of Miser Shen, I'm doing alright as a person.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to share this book with you guys.


TLDR: I shall clasp my hands together and bow to the corners of the world.

May your internet access remain uninterrupted, and may your to-read lists be always more intriguing than they are intimidating, and may your bookstores never close their doors.

[Kristina]

Bravo.

[Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth]

Kristina wrote: "Bravo."

Haha, Kristina, I couldn't think how to sum up my thoughts upon reading Aaron's post, but I think you said it perfectly. :)

[Paul]

I have said it in the Youtube comments, and in the Finished thread on Goodreads, but feel compelled to say it here as well. Thank you so much for doing the Bridge of Birds Whiteboard Aaron.

I eventually got around to ordering it shortly after Christmas and it arrived just after the start of the Book of the Month.

I adored the book. To me it was Rabelaisian with a lot less arcane scholarly references. And maybe a lot less lewd. But just as madcap and witty. Some gorgeous imagery among the absurd as well.

Just superb. Will be joining Master Li and Number Ten Ox in their further adventures.

And so having typed a long discussion, I decided to take note Kristina and Ruth's wisdom and bang my head five times on the floor in acknowledgement of your thoughts on the book.

ps Did I mention that I am eternally grateful for you bringing this book to our attention?

[Syacelion]

@P.Aaron: "Thank you for sharing!"
No, I mean, seriously, thank you for sharing this book, and sharing your thoughts on it and your love for it with us. :)
The entire, "true" purpose of a book club, in my opinion, is precisely to share little gems like this that most of us would not ordinarily have discovered on our own.
Well done, sir.

[Mel (booksandsundry)]

Aaron thank you for bring this wonderful story to my life. I now wish to share it with the world as you have ever so kindly shared it with us.