Jack
I came to this book knowing that it would explore matriarchal concepts, but it is so much richer as a text then that. It is about grief and mourning, about learning to see things from other people's perspectives, about choice and decisions and how they can effect your life, about growing up, about the power of the stories we pass down, about the importance of communication ,about what the truth is and the impact it can have and whether it should always be told...
That is not to say she did not pay attention in respect to the matriarchal elements; if anything her success is indicated in how encompassing yet invisible it remains, much like how patriarchy operates in modern society. The book does not focus primarily on the relationship between men and women, but on the relationships between Lisbeï and the people she encounters. It is first and foremost about her, and while men and their position in society do come up in her life, they are just another element in her life as she grows as a person–although she does interact with them more in certain parts of the book.
An impressive element of the book, is the translator's way of communicating Vonarburg's feminisation of the French language into English, a language free of grammatical gender. Words like “Visitors” becomes “Visitas”, or word order is changed from “Brothers and sisters” to “Sisters and brothers”. Much credit to Jane Brierley for such an elegant solution. Some words do remain completely unknown to me, and I'm unsure if that is because you just have to infer what it is even in the French version, or if it's a translation issue. On an unrelated note, please feel free to tell me what a ‘Pidge' is... Please also refrain from any Pokemon Go jokes.
The story-telling itself is slow, and deliberately tangential. This is not a plot driven story in which there are heroes, villains, and a journey to throw a ring into a volcano. It is the story of Lisbeï's life. The things that change her, what she learns, and who she ends up as a result. It was a slow read for me, and while tiring, was just so emotionally moving.
I'm unsure how popular this book is in French speaking countries, but I know that it is criminally underrated in English speaking ones. This book is long, and is difficult, but it is beautiful.
I came to this book knowing that it would explore matriarchal concepts, but it is so much richer as a text then that. It is about grief and mourning, about learning to see things from other people's perspectives, about choice and decisions and how they can effect your life, about growing up, about the power of the stories we pass down, about the importance of communication ,about what the truth is and the impact it can have and whether it should always be told...
That is not to say she did not pay attention in respect to the matriarchal elements; if anything her success is indicated in how encompassing yet invisible it remains, much like how patriarchy operates in modern society. The book does not focus primarily on the relationship between men and women, but on the relationships between Lisbeï and the people she encounters. It is first and foremost about her, and while men and their position in society do come up in her life, they are just another element in her life as she grows as a person–although she does interact with them more in certain parts of the book.
An impressive element of the book, is the translator's way of communicating Vonarburg's feminisation of the French language into English, a language free of grammatical gender. Words like “Visitors” becomes “Visitas”, or word order is changed from “Brothers and sisters” to “Sisters and brothers”. Much credit to Jane Brierley for such an elegant solution. Some words do remain completely unknown to me, and I'm unsure if that is because you just have to infer what it is even in the French version, or if it's a translation issue. On an unrelated note, please feel free to tell me what a ‘Pidge' is... Please also refrain from any Pokemon Go jokes.
The story-telling itself is slow, and deliberately tangential. This is not a plot driven story in which there are heroes, villains, and a journey to throw a ring into a volcano. It is the story of Lisbeï's life. The things that change her, what she learns, and who she ends up as a result. It was a slow read for me, and while tiring, was just so emotionally moving.
I'm unsure how popular this book is in French speaking countries, but I know that it is criminally underrated in English speaking ones. This book is long, and is difficult, but it is beautiful.