Apríl: Children In Reindeer Woods by Kristín Ómarsdóttir / translated by Lytton Smith

[Maggie]

My very first question in this book was why did the soldiers spare Billie? Why not one of the other children, who were younger. My answer was her beauty. What do you think?

[Marieke]

I thought she was hiding and she didn't come out of hiding until Rafael had killed the other soldiers.

[Marieke]

I already feel like I need to reread the book!

[Maggie]

She doesn't hide until they go into the house. She's standing there when they're murdered around her.

[Marieke]

I'll have to reread the beginning. I thought she wasn't seen until after everyone was dead.

[Betty]

Maggie wrote: "I was talking of Peter, who left without his boot, guitar, and backpack of supplies, apparently (according to Rafael) cycling off to the airfield. His questions to Rafael and knowledge of Rafael a..."

Thank you for pointing to Peter. I gather that Peter was murdered and that the questionable event was what happened to the shepherd after so many attempts at justice by Rafael. If there's any kind of optimism in the story, then it's that Rafael is learning self-control of his destructive impulses, albeit by penitential means. His penance of shooting off a toe for each violation has limits given his twenty digits. Hopefully, he quickly learns. Besides self-control, maybe Rafael is also learning sharing/consensus as with the playing dolls with Billie or maybe as with coming to an agreement with Isaac about the sheep. I'm being too optimistic.

[Betty]

Marieke wrote: "Even the nun is mysterious because they couldn't find her when They went looking for her. I like to think she left alive, but..."

Judy wrote: "I just think that Rafael would not have gone running off in the car with Billie to look for the nun, if he had killed her. I think he weakened his resolve with the nun..."

Maggie wrote: "My very first question in this book was why did the soldiers spare Billie? Why not one of the other children, who were younger. My answer was her beauty..."

The point of the novel may be that irrationality in wartime is illustrated by Rafael, who disrupts the normal society on the farm and who brings about disruptions to the expectations of childhood, to socioeconomic ties, to naïve notions of what war entails, to spirituality, and to grace in the world. This novel is sometimes referred to as an allegory, which means that the themed story is told through symbolic characters. I suggest that the caretakers on the farm represent communal society. Those farmers, along with Rafael's military comrades, are murdered in the context of the survival motives without distinguishing friend from foe. As to the disruption of normal social structures, Billie represents the abandonment of children, all her human connections gone; the tax-revenue collectors represent the break in socioeconomic conditions because there's nothing to buy; Peter represents the naïvety of participants as to what war is; the nun represents spiritual love for humankind which becomes a brief physical love; the shepherd represents the removal of God's grace from the flock of humanity. Rafael's name, along with Abraham and Isaac, has religious associations. In Omarssdottír's story, Rafael (archangel Raphael/Rafael) heralds the end of the normal society with some remorse (the penitential mutilations of his toes, his keeping the truth from Billie), securing an eden of the self in control of everything from the orderly kept house to the occupants on the farm to what Billie will do. The ending is eerie because adults don't normally play with dolls or marry children. Then, this story isn't about normality.

[Marieke]

It crossed my mind at the end...do we know how old Rafael is? He may only be 18, which is only 7 years older than Billie, which would make them a suitable pair in a few years' time. And maybe he needs Billie's childishness to help him recover some innocence and childhood.

I don't know.

I like your explanation of the symbols of the characters, Asma.

[Maggie]

Asma wrote: "The point of the novel may be that irrationality in wartime is illustrated by Rafael, who disrupts the normal society on the farm and who brings about disruptions to the expectations of childhood, to socioeconomic ties, to naïve notions of what war entails, to spirituality, and to grace in the world. This novel is sometimes referred to as an allegory, which means that the themed story is told through symbolic characters...."

As always, you give me lots to think about. I would certainly agree that one of the points of the story is the absence of normality or normality turned on its head. I, too, noticed all the biblical names in the book, but hadn't thought about Rafael in that context. I did think that Abraham should have been called Jacob, given what he had to put up with. Ha!

[Maggie]

Marieke wrote: "It crossed my mind at the end...do we know how old Rafael is? He may only be 18, which is only 7 years older than Billie, which would make them a suitable pair in a few years' time. And maybe he ne..."

I figured that Rafael was quite young - 18-19 - just in how he talks about not being able to become a vet because of the war. I figured that meant that his college education was ended. Also, many of his decision indicate that he's young and headstrong.

[Betty]

Maggie wrote: "...I figured that Rafael was quite young - 18-19 - just in how he talks about not being able to become a vet because of the war...he's young and headstrong. "

Marieke wrote: "...do we know how old Rafael is? He may only be 18, which is only 7 years older than Billie, which would make them a suitable pair in a few years' time..."

Excellent arguments, Marieke and Maggie, for Rafael's youth, education, and temperament.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Read this today. Funny how I fear Rafael but also pity him. I worry for what happens to Billie after the ending. Strange to have a personal connection to a novel that I felt otherwise so disconnected from!

[Betty]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "...I worry for what happens to Billie after the ending. Strange to have a personal connection to a novel that I felt otherwise so disconnected from! "

I also felt eerily for Billie's future with Rafael at the novel's ending. Billie distrusted Rafael to keep her out of harm's way when he left her by the soon-to-be-detonated car. Yet, he has so far acted responsibly towards her with the exception of his possible lies about the visitors' disappearances. Perhaps, his lies about the disappearance of visitors prompt her distrust in conjunction with his earlier statements about the countdown to the explosion of the car. His words imply a lack of control over the explosion once he set the timer in motion. In reality, his words again obfuscate the truth. Both these characters can feel threatened. Hopefully, the threats won't come from one or the other.

Your statement about "a personal connection to a novel that I felt otherwise so disconnected from!" intrigues me.