2021/151: Mythago Wood -- Robert Holdstock

2021/151: Mythago Wood -- Robert Holdstock

She was not violent, perhaps because the old man himself could not think of a woman being violent. He imposed a structure on her, disarming her, leaving her quite helpless in the forest. [p. 57]

This is a novel I return to again and again, each time finding something new. This time around I found the toxic masculinity almost overpowering: but this is, after all, a novel about tensions between father and son and between brothers. It's not an accident that the only female characters are either dead (Stephen and Christian's mother) or mythic( Read more... )

2021/152: Lavondyss -- Robert Holdstock

2021/152: Lavondyss -- Robert Holdstock

'Each of you was born with memory of the same ancient event, and the abundance of later myths and legends that had developed from it...Lavondyss for you – for all of us – is what we are able to remember of ancient times ...’ [p. 398]

Having reread Mythago Wood, I found myself craving the Ice Age and the multiple circling-backs of Tallis' story in Lavondyss. ( Read more... )