52 in 2011

[lumineaux]

39.  The Anatomy of Ghosts  by Andrew Taylor

Although the title suggests otherwise, this is not a paranormal mystery.  It's a historical mystery set in a English university in 1786.  The main character is called upon to investigate and refute a sighting of a ghost that seems to have sent a student mad.  The standard mystery tropes are in play -- there are secrets, servants, snobbery, social classes, the obligatory Hellfire Club homage, the equally obligatory prostitutes, and the semi-obligatory romance.  The tropes are all well-played and the writing solid, but there's nothing particularly new or compelling here.  It's a good enough historical mystery for those who like that sort of thing (which I do).


40.  Deerskin by Robin McKinley

Probably the single most distressing book Robin McKinley ever wrote -- it's an adaptation of the fairy tale more commonly known as Donkeyskin.  A princess grows up ignored by her self-absorbed parents and the courtiers until her mother wastes away and dies of a mysterious illness.  Her mother extracts from the king a promise that he will marry no woman who is not as beautiful as she was.  On the princess's 17th birthday, the king realizes his daughter is as beautiful as her mother was and, with chilling logic, decides to marry her.  She understandably objects.  The king rapes his daughter.   The rape is not physically graphic.  Instead, it's emotionally graphic.    The reader feels everything the princess feels; not only the physical violation but the betrayal and terror and loss of control. 

The first third of the book ends with the princess and her faithful dog running away, traumatized physically and mentally.  The rest of the book is her recovery, her finding the ability to love and trust other people, and her taking her revenge.  As a reader, however, I never really recovered from the rape.  Perhaps that is McKinley's point.  But it's a hard read. 

It's a well-written book.  There are moments of startling beauty and wonderful turns of phrase.  The highly dysfunctional and self-aborsobed "romance" of the princess' parents with each other and with their kingdom plays with the dark implications of classic fairy tales.  But it's a hard read.  

Comments

[hlwoods.livejournal.com]

As to Deerskin; I thought it was just me. I read it. Once. But I've never been able to read it again. The writing grips me too closely.

Which is a pity because there were large parts of the book that I enjoyed; most of them once she's in the kennels.

[lady-catwings.livejournal.com]

Whoa. I read this book sometime in middle school, and remember understanding nothing. It was very frustrating, but I pushed through to the end still not following what was going on (which was odd because I had been reading adult level books for years). I wonder if my mind refused to process it. I was dealing with abuse at home, and this story line might have been too much for me. Creepy. I will have to read Deerskin again.

Thanks for reviewing!

[lumineaux.livejournal.com]

It doesn't help that McKinley couches so much in reference and metaphor. I mean, you don't even find out the main character's name until about 3 chapters into the book. You never find out her father's name or her mother's name. The obfuscation makes it a hard book to skim, and therefore even harder to skip over the awful parts.