Into the Forest discussion
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2019 Challenge Progress
Jalilah, some suggestions:A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes--The Trojan War told in women's voices.
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker--also a retelling of the Trojan War.
Ransom by David Malouf. One of my favorite books. It tells the story of Priam of Troy going to the Greek camp to ask Achilles to return Hektor's body. An aged king who knows he is losing the war asking his son's killer to return his body for burial. Very compelling and beautifully told.
As you can see, I'm heavy into Greek mythology--especially Homer :)
Another option (non-Greek) is Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer from ancient Sumer. The Hymn to Inanna is wonderful, especially if you read the edition by Wolkstein and Kramer.
If I think of anything else, I'll pass it on.
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A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes--The Trojan War told in women's voices.
The Silence of the Girls by [author:Pat Barke..."
Thanks! My idea was to use the books we read for the group read for the challenge, but it's always good to have more titles!
I read Inanna last year after I read Gilgamesh when it was our group read.
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1. A book with less than 100 reviews on Goodreads
3. book inspired by African mythology or folklore
10. A book with a cover you do NOT like
11. non-fiction book about folk or fairy tales or mythology or a collection that has an analysis or commentary
12. A tale told in verse
I'm sure I can find a lot of books for these categories. It would be nice to use some of my ARCS because I have about 70 I need to read before the end of the year....which is not going to happen!
I have 5 more to go, here's what I'm left with... a couple I already know what I want to read, the others I'm still undecided...3. A book inspired by African mythology or folklore
Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor - she's one of my favorite authors now so I'm just dragging my feet to delay the gratification. :-)
5. A myth or legend you haven't read yet but always meant to (original or modern retelling) or a novel based on or inspired by the myth or tale you have never read
I haven't decided - so many to choose from (!) but I'll probably go with whatever wins for the next group read in Greek Mythology.
6. A book written by an Indigenous author
Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson - own this one, so again, just delaying the fact (saving it up) that I'm fairly sure I'll love this one.
10. A book with a cover you do NOT like
I haven't decided
11. A non-fiction book about folk or fairy tales or mythology or a collection that has an analysis or commentary
Fairy Tales with a Black Consciousness: Essays on Adaptations of Familiar Stories if I have the money to buy it next month. Otherwise I'll go with something that's at the library.
It looks like I'm reading my last remaining book in the reading challenge! Mr. Fox. This is my book whose cover I hate (the cover of this particular edition makes the book look like chicklit of the lowest order). I first read the book last year (my review) and loved it. Having said that, it took me ~100 pages to understand what was going on. On re-reading, I'm picking up so much more detail that I didn't get the first time around. The book is like a wonderful puzzle, with so many layers. The deeper I dig, the more jewels I find.
It is also very pertinent to the folklore behind The Fox Woman that we read recently as a buddy-read.
Amanda wrote: "It looks like I'm reading my last remaining book in the reading challenge! Mr. Fox. This is my book whose cover I hate (the cover of this particular edition makes the book look like..."Do you have the cover with the woman looking out the window? I have that one and found it a bit cringey to read on the metro! I also loved the book, but definitely feel I should reread it.
I feel like I could do an entire month of foxy readings I have backed up, including the one you mention, and Fox and Lady into Fox.
Yes! I was reading it in the hairdressers and wanted to hide it.I've got Fox on my TBR pile. I hadn't heard of Lady into Fox - it sounds brilliant - and has now also joined by TBRs.
...and, I've just noticed that Fox has less than 100 reviews on Goodreads. If anyone wants to read this as their #1 challenge, I'd quite like to do a buddy read with this one - I've a feeling it is going to be one that 'requires careful reading'.
Amanda wrote: "...and, I've just noticed that Fox has less than 100 reviews on Goodreads. If anyone wants to read this as their #1 challenge, I'd quite like to do a buddy read with this one - I'..."
I'm not exactly doing this challenge, but I'm happy to buddy read and chat about Fox... but I would want the physical book I think, so couldn't start for a few weeks at the earliest (Book Depository woes).
Emily wrote: "I feel like I could do an entire month of foxy readings I have backed up, including the one you mention, and Fox and Lady into Fox."Emily, the next time we do a theme group read, you should definitely nominate "foxy readings" - fox folklore, myths, etc. I'd vote for it!
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If anyone wants to read this as their #1 challenge, I'd quite like to do a buddy read with this one - I'..."
I'd be interested in reading Mr. Fox for #10. A book with a cover you do NOT like
The thing is my library doesn't have it and I'm trying to avoid buying too many books. I have just requested an ILL ( my library fortunately resumed the service) but I never know how long it will take
I'm happy to nominate foxy tales... or maybe even better, animal tales? As I feel like ravens, raccoons, coyotes etc. also feature a lot in these kinds of books?Apparently I am doing this challenge a bit. So far I have
1. A book with less than 100 reviews: Hannah Versus the Tree, may it languish in obscurity.
2. One I didn't vote for: The Penelopiad
10. A book with a cover you do not like: Cuckoo Song. Although I read it on kindle so I'm not sure that counts!
11. Non fiction about folk or fairy tales: The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries
12. A tale told in verse: I reread Seamus Heaney's Beowulf
Emily wrote: "I'm happy to nominate foxy tales... or maybe even better, animal tales? As I feel like ravens, raccoons, coyotes etc. also feature a lot in these kinds of books?"Well, we had an Animal Transformations group read and a Mythic Animal Stories group read already. That's why I thought maybe going more specific with your "foxy readings" would be fun. :-)
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Emily, the next time we do a theme group read, yo..."
Margaret wrote: "Maybe we can try to have an entire year of animal tales: foxes, wolves, bears... :) I LOVE animal transformation stories."
Yes, great idea! I'd vote for foxes or animals too! Nominations will be mid October!
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Oh it definitely still counts! Anyway we are not very strict here and no one is going to police you if you read something that wouldn't count!
For example I just decided to read Mr. Fox for # 10, a book with a cover I do Not like. If the copy I find doesn't have the cover I don't like I am still going to count it!
Also there is a feature where you can select how many books you want to read for the challenge. You don't have to read all 12 and you can also read more books. So its not too late if you want to start!
Margaret wrote: "Maybe we can try to have an entire year of animal tales: foxes, wolves, bears... :) I LOVE animal transformation stories."So long as we include cats too, I'd be game. 😸
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I read Zanna's and Amanda's reviews and really want to like it. I also really liked Icarus Girl.
Jalilah wrote: "...I read Zanna's and Amanda's reviews and really want to like it..."I've read the book twice, and still haven't captured all it intends to say.
On my first read I absorbed the humour and language, but didn't understand what was going on. With my second read, I looked up unfamiliar terms which opened the puzzle spectacularly, yet not enough for me to understand the whole.
It has a concept (author's muse steps from the pages into his life), but lacks a plot.
What I love about it, though, is that it illustrates the fox motif by drawing on so many occurrences in folklore - mainly Western but with some Eastern elements thrown in. It has pointed me towards beliefs/readings with which I was unfamiliar.
It's not a book to read on cruise control. It's not perfect, but it is mind-blowing!
Margaret wrote: "Maybe we can try to have an entire year of animal tales: foxes, wolves, bears... :) I LOVE animal transformation stories."I attended a writing workshop about Beasts, Hags and Trees yesterday. Totally inspired.
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That sounds like the best way to spend a day. Who taught it?
Zoe Gilbert (author of Folk). The workshop was held in the former home of the young Virginia Woolf.
Amanda wrote: "Zoe Gilbert (author of Folk). The workshop was held in the former home of the young Virginia Woolf."That sounds amazing! Anything you can share on the subject of writing beasts, hags and trees? A reading list?
Emily wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Zoe Gilbert (author of Folk). The workshop was held in the former home of the young Virginia Woolf."That sounds amazing! Anything you can share on the subject of writing beasts, ha..."
It was special.
Reading List:
Beasts
My Daughter the Fox by Jackie Kay
Raven by Claire Dean (aka Claire Massey) – online
‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’, ‘Werewolf’, ‘Peter and the Wolf’ and ‘The Company of Wolves’ by Angela Carter
‘Fox Magic’ by Kij Johnson (in collection At the Mouth of the River of Bees. She also has a novel which extends the original story)
Mr Fox by Helen Oyeyemi
Mrs Fox by Sarah Hall (controversial, see also Lady into Fox by David Garnett)
The Fox, novella by D H Lawrence
Wild Brother by William Lyman Underwood (full text online)
Hags, Crones, Baba Yaga
The possibility of evil by Shirley Jackson (online)
Baba Yaga Laid an Egg, by Dubravka Ugresic
Lolly Willowes, by Sylvia Townsend Warner
Don’t Look Now by Daphne DuMaurier
Moss Witch by Sara Maitland
Sea Oak by George Saunders
Trees
Discovering the Folklore of Plants, by Margaret Baker (source used in session)
The Tree Ogham by Glennie Kindred (source used in session)
Gossip from the Forest by Sara Maitland
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
The Forest in Folklore and Mythology, by Alexander Porteous
Forests by Robert Pogue Harrison
Why Willows Weep anthology
General
From the Beast to the Blonde by Marina Warner
Italian Folk Tales by Italo Calvino
My Mother she Killed me, My Father he Ate me: 40 new fairy tales, ed. Kate Bernheimer
Emily wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Zoe Gilbert (author of Folk). The workshop was held in the former home of the young Virginia Woolf."That sounds amazing! Anything you can share on the subject of writing beasts, ha..."
Writing:
On beasts: has the character had their beastliness thrust upon them, or is it intentional?
On hags and crones: their characteristics are usually liberated, wild, garrulous, wicked, ugly, wizened, dangerously talkative, unlovely, unwomanly, gossip, the power of speech (the word spell is derived from speech/talk). Often situated on the threshold between worlds, eg. forest and village, or death and rebirth.
On trees: difficulty of defining the character of a tree as a tree, and not as a person. Consider what the characteristics defined by existing folklore could symbolise in your story. Also this could go wrong.
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I've been wanting to read Folk! Unfortunately, my library doesn't have it.
That's a great reading list. I've read some but obviously not enough!
Wonderful, thank you Amanda! Can't wait to get stuck into the foxes. :-)
Amanda wrote: "Hags, Crones, Baba Yaga...Don’t Look Now by Daphne DuMaurier..."Ooo, I have this one on my Spooky TBR for this month. Now I'm even more interested. Thank you for sharing the list!
Leah wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Hags, Crones, Baba Yaga...Don’t Look Now by Daphne DuMaurier..."Ooo, I have this one on my Spooky TBR for this month. Now I'm even more interested. Thank you for sharing the list!"
You might want to add Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley to your Spooky TBRs. It's scheduled for publication in the UK at Halloween. My review.
Also, the title of the Kate Bernheimer anthology reminds me of a particularly chilling song. Perfect for this time of year. Stick Stock.
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That sounds amazing! Anything you can share on the subject of writ..."
All these would be great Group Read themes!
Anyway I will soon be posting a nomination thread for the next group read so feel free to nominate Foxes, Hags or whatever you like!
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I've read the book twice, and still haven't captured all it intends to say.
On my first read I absorbed the h..."
This is good to know, ( that I am not the only one who doesn't understand what it's about) and I am appreciating it more now that I realise there is not a real plot.
I am approaching it more like a short story collection now.
The "Brown and Blue" story was quite interesting!
Jalilah wrote: "All these would be great Group Read themes!"I almost nominated "Hags and Crones" for the theme, but I really liked Emily and Amanda's Foxy Readings idea, so that's what I'm hoping wins this next round.
It sounds like Amanda can teach the masterclass on foxes anyway :-)
I quite like the idea of Hags and Crones and then, of course, there is the Cailleach too, one and the same, but more known in Scotland. That would be my interest for this time frame.
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Moon of the Crusted Snow doesn't have a bad cover, its not great, but not fantastic either, however my library copy is covered with icky brown spots which I hope are just coffee. If it were not that I waited so long for this book, I might have returned it for the cover is truly disgusting!
Mr. Fox did not work for me and I really did not find the sexy witch in the cover of Red as Blood so terrible, so a I will count Moon of the Crusted Snow as "10. A book with a cover you do NOT like"!
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Moon of the Crusted Snow doesn't have a bad cover, its not great, but not fantastic either, however my li..."
I don't remember Moon of the Crusted Snow having any mythic bits!
Jalilah wrote: "Sometimes the books that come up for a challenge like this are unexpected! Moon of the Crusted Snow doesn't have a bad cover, its not great, but not fantastic either, however my li..."
I think the Red as Blood cover isn't so much terrible in and of itself, but because it gives a totally misleading impression of the book and indeed is likely to drive off a number of people who would like it!
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I agree! The sexy witch on the broomstick
doesn't represent the book at all. Margaret wrote: " I don't remember Moon of the Crusted Snow having any mythic bits! "
Oh no! Really? I guess because most of the dystopian books, by indigenous authors that I recently read had a little bit of of mythology or folklore I just assumed this one would too!
How did you like it?
I am really getting stumped by this particular part of the challenge! I might just do as Annette said in the other thread, just choose the book with the cover I like the least towards the end of the year.
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I liked it okay. It was good but not great to me; however, I know several people who loved it.
It's possible the mother tells a story to the children that's a folktale, but I honestly don't remember that happening. It's a quick read though.
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I liked it okay. It was good but not great to me; however, I know several people who loved it.
It's possible the mother tells a story to the children that's a folktale, but I honestly don't remember that happening. It's a quick read though. ..."
Yes, the grandmother tells a tale of NanaBush or Nanabozho, the Ojibwe trickster. But even more evident is the Windigo myth of the human that becomes a cannibalistic monster, embodied in Scott character.
I was not blown away by this book. Like you, I liked it okay, but that's it. But at least I now have read my book with a cover a I don't like!
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I wanted to like it more than I did. It read like a pretty typical post-apocalypse story even though it was from an Indigenous perspective.
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and
11. non-fiction book about folk or fairy tales or mythology or a collection that has an analysis or commentary
For 11 I thought since I will be rereading some Grimm's fairy tales for the next group read I thought I'd read a non-fiction book about Grimms.
I remember when I read The Wild Girl in her forward Kate Forsyth mentions that she got the idea to write the novel after reading a book about the Grimms where it is suggested that Wilhelm Grimm wife Dorchen possibly had been abused by her father and that's where some of the fairy tales with an evil father come from.
I had a library copy of Wild Girl so I can't look to see what the book was. Does anyone know?
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I am looking at my copy.
It's in the Afterword, and Forsyth says the idea came to her while researching Dortchen's stories. She read a study about how fairy tales often help victims of sexual abuse, and the man who wrote the study noted that "All Kinds of Fur" drastically changed from how it was first written down (as Dortchen told it to Wilhelm) and how Wilhelm published it. In D's version, the girl marries her father the king. In W's version, she flees her father and marries another. Later, she read something by Jack Zipes where he speculated that the reason W changed so many of the incest tales was because he was a victim of incest. But to Forsyth, it made more sense if it were D who had been the victim of sexual abuse, which would explain why W still included the incest tales, just heavily edited.
So lots of leaps here, but ones that work well for the story!
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Outside of my usual go to genre is an under. I hate these types of collections! I am forcing myself. Though I'll admit it's creative and well written, I am not enjoying.
I'm stuck on 6. Initially, I planned to use Kuessipan. While it's penned by indigenous writer, the book is more concerned about life in reserve and problems within the community than folk tales and legends. I liked it very much, but I don't think it fits the challenge.
Into the Forest
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Hiromi Goto (other topics)Zitkála-Šá (other topics)
Pierre de Marivaux (other topics)
Ziya'u'd-Din Nakhshabi (other topics)
Alexander McCall Smith (other topics)
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4. An anthology or a single author collection outside your usual go-to genre or subject.
5. A myth or legend you haven't read yet but always meant to (original or modern retelling) or a novel based or inspired by the myth or tale you've never read
10. A book with a cover you do NOT like
11. non-fiction book about folk or fairy tales or mythology or a collection that has an analysis or commentary
For #5 probably some of the Greek Myth inspired novels night qualify