Identify Books In Favor Of Deathless (Leningrad Diptych #1)
| Original Title: | Deathless |
| ISBN: | 0765326302 (ISBN13: 9780765326300) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Leningrad Diptych #1 |
| Literary Awards: | Locus Award Nominee for Best Fantasy Novel (2012), Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee for Adult Literature (2012), James Tiptree Jr. Award Nominee for Longlist (2011), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Fantasy (2011), Prix Elbakin.net for Meilleur roman fantasy traduit (2014) |
Catherynne M. Valente
Hardcover | Pages: 352 pages Rating: 4.01 | 15435 Users | 2381 Reviews
Itemize Epithetical Books Deathless (Leningrad Diptych #1)
| Title | : | Deathless (Leningrad Diptych #1) |
| Author | : | Catherynne M. Valente |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 352 pages |
| Published | : | March 29th 2011 by Tor Books |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction. Mythology. Fairy Tales. Cultural. Russia |
Representaion Conducive To Books Deathless (Leningrad Diptych #1)
Koschei the Deathless is to Russian folklore what devils or wicked witches are to European culture: a menacing, evil figure; the villain of countless stories which have been passed on through story and text for generations. But Koschei has never before been seen through the eyes of Catherynne Valente, whose modernized and transformed take on the legend brings the action to modern times, spanning many of the great developments of Russian history in the twentieth century. Deathless, however, is no dry, historical tome: it lights up like fire as the young Marya Morevna transforms from a clever child of the revolution, to Koschei’s beautiful bride, to his eventual undoing. Along the way there are Stalinist house elves, magical quests, secrecy and bureaucracy, and games of lust and power. All told, Deathless is a collision of magical history and actual history, of revolution and mythology, of love and death, which will bring Russian myth back to life in a stunning new incarnation.Rating Epithetical Books Deathless (Leningrad Diptych #1)
Ratings: 4.01 From 15435 Users | 2381 ReviewsCriticism Epithetical Books Deathless (Leningrad Diptych #1)
Slavic folklore is just as interesting and rich as any other and Catherynne M. Valente knows how to bring it to life.We enter this magical world in 1918, when the protagonist, Marya, is just 10 years old. And we leave it, in the same place (though everything has changed) in 1952. Marya lives in a house in Petrograd (which is Leningrad, which is St. Petersburg - the name usually telling you when you are there as the city has been renamed in different periods throughout Russian history). SinceAfter re-reading:I re-read this novel, not because I liked it but because I wanted to recall the details to be able to point out what I couldn't stand. Funnily enough, this time around the problem of cultural appropriation wasn't as much in the foreground as it was when I read this novel for the first time. I noticed other issues instead, and believe me, there are plenty for the book is not executed well. My main problem with it still was the use of the Russian folklore in a manner I personally
In Deathless, Catherynne Valente ambitiously takes on the Russian tale of Koschei the Deathless, turning the traditional tale of the wicked bride-stealing Tsar of Life into a modern fable featuring one such bride, Marya Morevna, who learns to match Koschei in deviousness. The rapt pupil will be forgiven for assuming the Tsar of Death to be wicked and the Tsar of Life to be virtuous. Let the truth be told: There is no virtue anywhere. Life is sly and unscrupulous, a blackguard, wolfish, severe.
I chose to read this book because it was one of the oldest on my TBR list and it was available at the library. Not maybe the most compelling reasons to make a selection, and it seems that I havent been in the correct mood to appreciate it.Catherynne Valente is an excellent writer. I cant complain about the writing style, or the vocabulary, or anything like that. The fault is mineI dont know enough about Russian folk tales to properly appreciate this retelling. What did I like? The Stalinist
Deathless is a hauntingly beautiful novel that will stay with you forever!Life is often full of beauty and joy. But life can also be cruel and painful at times. So it is only natural that the Czar of Life embodies both the wonderful and the terrible aspects of life. As a young girl, Marya Morevna captured the attention of the Czar of Life, the entity she's heard referred to in hushed whispers as Koschei the Deathless. And when Marya became a young woman, Koschei in turn captured her heart. After
I could have sworn I'd reviewed this book. I could have sworn I'd at least added it to my 'read' shelf! Either I'm crazy or Goodreads ate the review, which is all entirely possible.Either way, I'm sort of glad that I hadn't reviewed this book directly after I'd read it, because the review would have been a very different one. I'd had some time to dwell on the writing, the story and Valente as a writer and have come to some conclusions that I didn't immediately see when I'd first read the book.
You humans, you know, whoever built you sewed irony into your sinews. On the face of it, this seems to be a very simple fairy tale story albeit with astonishingly gorgeous prose. Valante's wordsmithing is art; I think I ended up with over 50 bookmarks. Also, the delicate story within a story within a story is so precise that it could be easy to ignore or miss without the relevant prerequisite knowledge about the history of Russia. This story does not wander, it is cyclical. It embraces a
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