A Lovely Translation

I was originally introduced to Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching in a world history class, and without fully understanding what I was reading, I nevertheless found it to be one of the most relaxing texts I had ever read. When I went to a bookstore to buy a copy, however, I found a dizying array of translations and no clear way to pick one over another. Finally, I decided I would flip through and read a few pages of each until I found a translation that gave me the same sense of peace as I felt when first reading a translation in class. This method led me to buy a translation by Brian Browne Walker.

Walker's translation is simple, poetic, and utterly beautiful. I have no idea how accurate the translation is, since I do not know Chinese. What I do know is, the words and concepts of the Tao Te Ching are words of deep worth. It's easy to see how one could embrace the philosophy espoused by the Tao Te Ching.

A Not-So-Sweet Valentine

Working for the Devil by Lilith Saintcrow is a story of Dante Valentine, a registered and sword toting necromance. The novel opens with a demon at Dante's door, and a job offer from the devil himself that Dante can't afford to refuse.

Working for the Devil has a lot to love, along with a number of obvious flaws. It's an addictive first person narrative, the sort that sucks a person in until you find you can't put the book down once it's begun. The dark urban sci-fi/fantasy setting is intriguing, as is most of the world-building that went into the novel. Also, the interaction between Dante and both friends and foes is a lot of fun to read. The verbal (and sometimes physical) sparring between characters is quite well done.

What's unfortunate about this novel is that, while the secondary characters are intriguing, the main character is someone you can't help but love and hate. Dante is simply too perfect in some ways. At the same time, her shows of unwarranted bravado can be grating on the nerves. The danger many authors seem to fall into in writing first person narratives is that they identify most strongly with the main character, and can't help but make their main character into something of a caricature of all the perfections they'd like to see in themselves. Although in this first novel of the series, Dante is still a relatively intriguing character, I would recommend that a reader only invest in this and the second novel, Dead Man Rising. After book two, the characterization of Dante only goes downhill. The first two novels, however, are definitely books I would recommend as fun, light reading.

From Caterpillar to Butterfly

A Fistful of Sky by Nina Kiriki Hoffman is a richly textured novel unlike anything else I've ever read. The story is centered around Gypsum LaZelle, a young woman who stands in a strange state of isolation at the beginning of the novel. She is quite ordinary, a little too plump, rather shy, and unsure of what she wants to do with her life. Gyp is nothing short of an ugly duckling in her beautiful family, and she is the only child not to inherit the gift of spell casting. While her mother and siblings are able to shape the world to their will with their wish power, she alone remains awkward and powerless in their midst. She relies a great deal on "mental whitewash" and forced positive thinking to make the world into a something she can live with. All this changes, however, when she comes into her own power, a power darker and stranger than anything she dreamed could live within her...

This novel is a strange and beautiful take on the usual coming of age story. I can't help but empathize with Gyp as she is forced to look into the depths of her soul and face the unplumbed depths of her own potential, a thrilling and frightening prospect that each and every one of us has faced or will face at one point or another. I find particularly intriguing the relationship between Gypsum and the mysterious "Altria", whom I'm sure Jung would identify immediately as Gypsum's shadow, the unconscious dark side to her cheerfully harmless ego. Over the course of her story, Gypsum is forced to reevaluate who she is and her place in the world, and comes to understand that it is possible to grasp her own personal power and to love and be loved unconditionally (both in a romantic and platonic sense of the word).

This is a novel that has grown on me a little more with each reading. The style is unusual, the imagery outside the norm, and the characters, particularly Gypsum, are simply too human not to love.

"Addiction"

It is precisely the word to describe my relationship with all things written. Fiction or non-fiction, poetry or prose, the written word has always been a thing of beauty to me. Nothing makes a day better than devouring a new delightful novel, or rereading a book that has become as familiar as a well-worn path. Some books I read for the characters, others for the style, others for theme... there are just so many reasons to love a good book. While I very much wish I could enumerate in full the many books and authors I have come to adore, I fear there there simply aren't enough hours in the day. Here I can at least share a bit of what makes me love the written word.