Genesis 3:9 Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” (All Bible quotations from the World English Bible, public domain)
As it was, she was surprised into looking into the Beast's face.
The contrasts she found there were too great: wisdom and despair, power and weakness, man and animal. These made him far more terrible than any hungry lion, any half-tamed hydra, any angry sorcerer, terrible as something that should not exist is terrible, because to recognize that it does exist shakes that faith in the foundations of the natural world which human beings must have to bear the burden of their rationality. Robin McKinley, Rose Daughter. New York: Ace, 1998, p. 87. ("she" is Beauty.)
1 Peter 3:13 Now who is he who will harm you, if you become imitators of that which is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “Don’t fear what they fear, neither be troubled.”
I was in the chapel over the burial-vault of my race. I called aloud: "If any of the dead are moving here, let
them take pity upon me, for I, alas! am still alive; and let some dead woman comfort me, for I am a stranger in the land of the dead, and see no light." A warm kiss alighted on my lips through the dark. And I said, "The dead kiss well; I will not be afraid." And a great hand was reached out of the dark, and grasped mine for a moment, mightily and tenderly. I said to myself: "The veil between, though very dark, is very thin." (George MacDonald, Phantastes, public domain)
GHOST, n. The outward and visible sign of an inward fear.
. . . Accounting for the uncommon behavior of ghosts, Heine mentions
somebody's ingenious theory to the effect that they are as much
afraid of us as we of them. Not quite, if I may judge from such
tables of comparative speed as I am able to compile from memories of
my own experience.
There is one insuperable obstacle to a belief in ghosts. A ghost
never comes naked: he appears either in a winding-sheet or "in his
habit as he lived." To believe in him, then, is to believe that not
only have the dead the power to make themselves visible after there is
nothing left of them, but that the same power inheres in textile
fabrics. Supposing the products of the loom to have this ability,
what object would they have in exercising it? And why does not the
apparition of a suit of clothes sometimes walk abroad without a ghost
in it? These be riddles of significance. They reach away down and
get a convulsive grip on the very tap-root of this flourishing faith. (Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, public domain)
LONGEVITY, n. Uncommon extension of the fear of death. (The Devil's Dictionary)
My first religion was pure Paganism, which among sincere
men is more shortly described as extreme fear. Then there succeeded a
state of mind which is quite real, but for which no proper name has ever
been found. The ancients called it Stoicism, and I think it must be what
some German lunatics mean (if they mean anything) when they talk
about Pessimism. It was an empty and open acceptance of the thing that
happens—as if one had got beyond the value of it. And then, curiously
enough, came a very strong contrary feeling—that things mattered very
much indeed, and yet that they were something more than tragic. It was
a feeling, not that life was unimportant, but that life was much
too important ever to be anything but life. I hope that this was
Christianity. At any rate, it occurred at the moment when we went crash
into the omnibus. (G. K. Chesterton, Tremendous Trifles, public domain)
Revelation 6:15 The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. 16 They told the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”
Thanks for reading.
Musings on science, the Bible, and fantastic literature (and sometimes basketball and other stuff).
God speaks to us through the Bible and the findings of science, and we should listen to both types of revelation.
The title is from Psalm 84:11.
The Wikipedia is usually a pretty good reference. I mostly use the World English Bible (WEB), because it is public domain. I am grateful.
License
I have written an e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which is free to anyone. To download that book, in several formats, go here.
The posts in this blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You can copy and use this material, as long as you aren't making money from it. If you give me credit, thanks. If not, OK.
The posts in this blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You can copy and use this material, as long as you aren't making money from it. If you give me credit, thanks. If not, OK.
Showing posts with label Robin McKinley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robin McKinley. Show all posts
Monday, July 30, 2012
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Spindle's End, by Robin McKinley
Robin McKinley's Spindle's End (2000) is a book infused through and through with magic. (See here for an essay on magic in the book, and here for the so-far brief Wikipedia article on Spindle's End.) The book is McKinley's take on "Sleeping Beauty."
Another aspect of the book is the connection between Katriona, a seeming teen-age girl, who, on impulse, spirits the baby princess away to a long hiding place in her simple village, and animals. Katriona can, while she is traveling with the Princess, speak to the animals, and they to her, and the princess is fed by milk from all sorts of mammals. Later, Katriona loses the ability to understand animal speech, but the princess has it. In the end, various animals help the princess defeat the evil fairy who has laid a curse on her, with one, a large captive raptor, finally destroying the evil Pernicia.
McKinley considers the relationship between magic and the church of the time. There are some tensions, but Katriona decides that paying the local priest to pray for the growing princess is worth the money.
I won't give away the plot, but I wished that McKinley had shortened the ending. The final conflict between the princess and the evil fairy, Pernicia, goes on too long, it seemed to me.
I have previously posted about a book by this author.
Nonetheless, the book is well worth reading.
Another aspect of the book is the connection between Katriona, a seeming teen-age girl, who, on impulse, spirits the baby princess away to a long hiding place in her simple village, and animals. Katriona can, while she is traveling with the Princess, speak to the animals, and they to her, and the princess is fed by milk from all sorts of mammals. Later, Katriona loses the ability to understand animal speech, but the princess has it. In the end, various animals help the princess defeat the evil fairy who has laid a curse on her, with one, a large captive raptor, finally destroying the evil Pernicia.
McKinley considers the relationship between magic and the church of the time. There are some tensions, but Katriona decides that paying the local priest to pray for the growing princess is worth the money.
I won't give away the plot, but I wished that McKinley had shortened the ending. The final conflict between the princess and the evil fairy, Pernicia, goes on too long, it seemed to me.
I have previously posted about a book by this author.
Nonetheless, the book is well worth reading.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Chalice, by Robin McKinley
Chalice, by Robin McKinley, was published in 1998. (Wikipedia article on book.) McKinley has been writing and publishing fantastic literature for at least 30 years.
Some of her work has been re-telling of familiar stories, such as Beauty and the Beast, or Robin Hood. Such re-telling has been original. McKinley has added much detail, added characters, and, generally, made the stories her own. In Chalice, she has built a medieval-like fantasy world that doesn't depend on a story told already.
I won't give away the plot, except to say that everyone who deserves to finds happiness in the end. For more on the plot, see the Wikipedia article.
I will explain the title. The Chalice is a member of the Circle of a demesne, serving under the Master. The Circle's job is to maintain order, not only among the people, but in the crops, forests, and rivers. The Chalice's role is to prepare suitable drinks, or fluids to be poured out over, say, a bad field or a sick animal. She is second only to the Master of the Circle in her power to help maintain or restore order.
I will also say something about religion in the book. There is a priesthood -- in fact there are three -- Earth, Air, and Fire. We do not learn much about the practices of that priesthood, except that we learn that a person entering a priesthood is gradually transformed, both physically and mentally, so that eventually a priest is definitely not a normal human, and has difficulty even interacting with normal humans.
The Circle somehow relies on supernatural guidance. This is most dramatic in the selection of new Circle members, and involves divination of some sort. The Chalice, in this book, is untrained and needs guidance. She does not pray, apparently, but it seems obvious that she seeks such guidance, and has received it, in ways that she does not understand, herself.
McKinley is almost always a good read. (I didn't like the subject matter of Sunshine, but have found her other books to be well written and uplifting.) Thanks for reading.
Some of her work has been re-telling of familiar stories, such as Beauty and the Beast, or Robin Hood. Such re-telling has been original. McKinley has added much detail, added characters, and, generally, made the stories her own. In Chalice, she has built a medieval-like fantasy world that doesn't depend on a story told already.
I won't give away the plot, except to say that everyone who deserves to finds happiness in the end. For more on the plot, see the Wikipedia article.
I will explain the title. The Chalice is a member of the Circle of a demesne, serving under the Master. The Circle's job is to maintain order, not only among the people, but in the crops, forests, and rivers. The Chalice's role is to prepare suitable drinks, or fluids to be poured out over, say, a bad field or a sick animal. She is second only to the Master of the Circle in her power to help maintain or restore order.
I will also say something about religion in the book. There is a priesthood -- in fact there are three -- Earth, Air, and Fire. We do not learn much about the practices of that priesthood, except that we learn that a person entering a priesthood is gradually transformed, both physically and mentally, so that eventually a priest is definitely not a normal human, and has difficulty even interacting with normal humans.
The Circle somehow relies on supernatural guidance. This is most dramatic in the selection of new Circle members, and involves divination of some sort. The Chalice, in this book, is untrained and needs guidance. She does not pray, apparently, but it seems obvious that she seeks such guidance, and has received it, in ways that she does not understand, herself.
McKinley is almost always a good read. (I didn't like the subject matter of Sunshine, but have found her other books to be well written and uplifting.) Thanks for reading.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
The Outlaws of Sherwood, by Robin McKinley
I recently read The Outlaws of Sherwood, by Robin McKinley (Ace, 1989). This is a re-telling of the legends of Robin Hood, who is best known for robbing the rich and helping the poor with the takings.
McKinley says that she was influenced by the version of Robin Hood, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, written and illustrated by Howard Pyle. I first read that book myself when I was a boy. She also used other sources. In her "Afterword," McKinley says:
Scholars disagree about when the stories were first told; the earliest hints of an historical Robin Hood date about 1260. The first literary reference to him is from the Piers Ploughman in 1377. But the retellings through the centuries have echoed concurrent preoccupations -- not those of a possible historical precedent that existed, and may or may not have been a person called Robin Hood. (p. 277)
So what were McKinley's "current preoccupations"? Well, there seem to have been several. Robin Hood, for her, was a Saxon, fighting Norman oppressors. (There is precedent for this, in some of the old versions of the story.) Another one is that Robin is introspective, and, if not fearful, extremely cautious. In Pyle's version, there are scores of outlaws. McKinley's Robin Hood doesn't seem to ever have more than twenty or so, and sometimes less than that. McKinley's Robin Hood is not the finest archer in his band. In fact, he may be the worst.
An important preoccupation, the most important, I would say, is the emphasis on women in The Outlaws of Sherwood. Marian, who loves Robin -- and the reverse -- does not live in Sherwood Forest, but her role is critical. (Pyle scarcely mentions her.) If there is a Christ figure in the book, she is the one. There is an archery contest, and Robin doesn't attend, because he believes it is a trap (which it is) and because he isn't a superb archer. But Marian believes that belief in Robin Hood's ability, and in his power to evade the Sheriff of Nottingham, is so important that someone must represent him. So she dresses in the costume the outlaws use, disguises herself as a male, and wins the contest. Then she is openly attacked by Guy of Gisbourne, who believes her to be Robin Hood, and nearly dies, for Robin's sake. She does recover.
That's not all Marian does, and she isn't the only woman with a prominent role. Marjorie, a pampered, sheltered young woman, becomes quietly competent in making do in what passes for a kitchen in Sherwood, and even plays a crucial role in the rescue of Robin's band from Guy of Gisbourne. Another woman, Cecily of Norwood, brother to Will Scarlet, becomes as good at woodcraft and fighting as the men around her, and she isn't the only such woman.
Marian, Marjorie, and Cecily all find husbands, life companions. All of them are aware of some flaws in the men they have chosen, but they have chosen well, and they have made the choice themselves. Marian and Marjorie come to the book already in love, but we get to experience Cecily's thoughts (and that of her eventual husband) as they come to realize how they feel about each other. All three of these women have rejected prospective husbands chosen for economic or political reasons by their fathers. Robin Hood's band removes the chosen groom from the wedding ceremony, substituting Marjorie's true love. Marian's father is unable to enforce his choice on her. Cicely runs away and joins Robin Hood's band, disguised as a boy.
Is this a feminist version? Perhaps so. It is a version which emphasizes the common humanness of both men and women. In other words, it is as much, or more, a version about character than about setting or plot. McKinley is good at portraying character.
What about worship, and the role of the church? There are, as in other versions, corrupt Bishops, traveling through Sherwood Forest bearing wealth, ripe for the picking. Friar Tuck is an important character, and he is a good man, but quite a bit is said about his healing ability, and next to nothing about his priestly duties, or his worship habits. Not much is said about anyone else's devotional life.
I enjoyed the book. McKinley's preoccupations are interesting.
Thanks for reading.
McKinley says that she was influenced by the version of Robin Hood, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, written and illustrated by Howard Pyle. I first read that book myself when I was a boy. She also used other sources. In her "Afterword," McKinley says:
Scholars disagree about when the stories were first told; the earliest hints of an historical Robin Hood date about 1260. The first literary reference to him is from the Piers Ploughman in 1377. But the retellings through the centuries have echoed concurrent preoccupations -- not those of a possible historical precedent that existed, and may or may not have been a person called Robin Hood. (p. 277)
So what were McKinley's "current preoccupations"? Well, there seem to have been several. Robin Hood, for her, was a Saxon, fighting Norman oppressors. (There is precedent for this, in some of the old versions of the story.) Another one is that Robin is introspective, and, if not fearful, extremely cautious. In Pyle's version, there are scores of outlaws. McKinley's Robin Hood doesn't seem to ever have more than twenty or so, and sometimes less than that. McKinley's Robin Hood is not the finest archer in his band. In fact, he may be the worst.
An important preoccupation, the most important, I would say, is the emphasis on women in The Outlaws of Sherwood. Marian, who loves Robin -- and the reverse -- does not live in Sherwood Forest, but her role is critical. (Pyle scarcely mentions her.) If there is a Christ figure in the book, she is the one. There is an archery contest, and Robin doesn't attend, because he believes it is a trap (which it is) and because he isn't a superb archer. But Marian believes that belief in Robin Hood's ability, and in his power to evade the Sheriff of Nottingham, is so important that someone must represent him. So she dresses in the costume the outlaws use, disguises herself as a male, and wins the contest. Then she is openly attacked by Guy of Gisbourne, who believes her to be Robin Hood, and nearly dies, for Robin's sake. She does recover.
That's not all Marian does, and she isn't the only woman with a prominent role. Marjorie, a pampered, sheltered young woman, becomes quietly competent in making do in what passes for a kitchen in Sherwood, and even plays a crucial role in the rescue of Robin's band from Guy of Gisbourne. Another woman, Cecily of Norwood, brother to Will Scarlet, becomes as good at woodcraft and fighting as the men around her, and she isn't the only such woman.
Marian, Marjorie, and Cecily all find husbands, life companions. All of them are aware of some flaws in the men they have chosen, but they have chosen well, and they have made the choice themselves. Marian and Marjorie come to the book already in love, but we get to experience Cecily's thoughts (and that of her eventual husband) as they come to realize how they feel about each other. All three of these women have rejected prospective husbands chosen for economic or political reasons by their fathers. Robin Hood's band removes the chosen groom from the wedding ceremony, substituting Marjorie's true love. Marian's father is unable to enforce his choice on her. Cicely runs away and joins Robin Hood's band, disguised as a boy.
Is this a feminist version? Perhaps so. It is a version which emphasizes the common humanness of both men and women. In other words, it is as much, or more, a version about character than about setting or plot. McKinley is good at portraying character.
What about worship, and the role of the church? There are, as in other versions, corrupt Bishops, traveling through Sherwood Forest bearing wealth, ripe for the picking. Friar Tuck is an important character, and he is a good man, but quite a bit is said about his healing ability, and next to nothing about his priestly duties, or his worship habits. Not much is said about anyone else's devotional life.
I enjoyed the book. McKinley's preoccupations are interesting.
Thanks for reading.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Sunshine by Robin McKinley
Robin McKinley hasn't written many books, but the books she has written have been good. She won the Newbery Medal for her The Hero and The Crown. I believe that I like her The Outlaws of Sherwood best. It is a re-telling of the story of Robin Hood and his band. It has been years since I read it, but I remember it as having lots of nitty-gritty detail on life in Sherwood Forest, and some memorable characters, and not just the ones in all the stories of Robin Hood.
I wasn't expecting Sunshine (New York: Berkley, 2003). I don't want to give away too much (although the book doesn't have a complicated plot) but let's put it this way -- Sunshine, the protagonist, spends a lot of the book dealing with vampires, and one vampire in particular. I guess I would categorize Sunshine as a book about a woman having a transforming experience. (She does not become a vampire herself -- that's not what I mean.) I wasn't expecting this emphasis on evil spirits (or persons) from McKinley. The closest I can remember in her writing is that there is a dark spirit of a dead dragon in the series including The Hero and the Crown.
McKinley, again, is great with details, and makes up a lot of them, concerning magic and a world threatened by vampires, also about baking (Sunshine bakes for an eatery.) I enjoyed the book, but I don't expect to read any more books about vampires for quite a while, and I didn't know I was going to when I started this one.
I wasn't expecting Sunshine (New York: Berkley, 2003). I don't want to give away too much (although the book doesn't have a complicated plot) but let's put it this way -- Sunshine, the protagonist, spends a lot of the book dealing with vampires, and one vampire in particular. I guess I would categorize Sunshine as a book about a woman having a transforming experience. (She does not become a vampire herself -- that's not what I mean.) I wasn't expecting this emphasis on evil spirits (or persons) from McKinley. The closest I can remember in her writing is that there is a dark spirit of a dead dragon in the series including The Hero and the Crown.
McKinley, again, is great with details, and makes up a lot of them, concerning magic and a world threatened by vampires, also about baking (Sunshine bakes for an eatery.) I enjoyed the book, but I don't expect to read any more books about vampires for quite a while, and I didn't know I was going to when I started this one.
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