Scan barcode
heyhawk's review against another edition
5.0
December 2018- My second time through this great novel. It's a myth that attempts to encompass all myths and mostly succeeds. It's narrated by a man who lives in a post-climate collapse mid-northwestern America and is presumably the last human companion of Dar Oakley,
a crow who has lived through ages of the rise of humanity and now seems to be there for the end. He is in some way THE crow of myth and the story is his. Beautifully written without excess. Ambitious without pretension.
Last year I rated it the best book I read for the first time in 2017. In retrospect that distinction should have gone to Prater Violet by Christopher Isherwood or to the Patternist books by Octavia Butler (though since I had already read one of those, they might not qualify). That being said, this is among my favorite books; one of the best novels of the decade. I considered reading it yearly, but I don't think I will, though I will read it several more times, I'm sure. Highly recommended!
a crow who has lived through ages of the rise of humanity and now seems to be there for the end. He is in some way THE crow of myth and the story is his. Beautifully written without excess. Ambitious without pretension.
Last year I rated it the best book I read for the first time in 2017. In retrospect that distinction should have gone to Prater Violet by Christopher Isherwood or to the Patternist books by Octavia Butler (though since I had already read one of those, they might not qualify). That being said, this is among my favorite books; one of the best novels of the decade. I considered reading it yearly, but I don't think I will, though I will read it several more times, I'm sure. Highly recommended!
fairymodmother's review against another edition
3.0
Dar Oakley is from Ka, the realm of Crows. Through association with People he discovers Ymr, their realm. From there, Crowley takes us on a journey through the ages of crow-based folklore. Death bird. Trickster. Omen. It's full of beautiful, poignant lines and replete with enough references to mythology and history to satisfy all sorts of readers.
And yet I never felt entirely swayed. This book is the sort you open and it has both atmosphere and an underlying purpose. It is trying to tell us something, to hint at a connection that will reverberate in our minds. I could feel this was what it ought to do. I'm afraid to say I never got the message. Maybe because I was rushed as I read it...but maybe not.
CONTENT WARNING:
Things to love:
-The folklore and mythology. If you love myths and legends, this book may well be enjoyable just for that element. There's so much in here, you could have a whole discussion just on the different references in the book.
-Dar Oakley. He's quite a character. I loved getting this book largely from a Crow's perspective. The non-human narrator allows us to see ourselves as if for the first time. And there were a lot of funny or sweet bits that wouldn't have worked if the protagonist were human. Very well done.
-The prose. There were so many beautiful lines in this book that made me stop and think about death, belonging, and what is inevitable, really.
-The timeline. It was a cool use of the different myths and a myth into itself. Very fun.
Things that left me wanting:
-The pace. It is glacial. It all feels like it's hinting at something, and I loved when there were call backs but a lot of it felt to me like the author just sharing cool things he'd learned, rather than cherry picking the best bits to drive his message home. It also started to speed up. We agonized over the first part and each subsequent part seemed to lose more elements, until we just steamrolled over the present day part.
-The modern story line. I didn't get it and I'm not sure what it added. I'm actually not sure what the revenge story line added either.
-The opacity of the story. There was all this hinting, but I never got the answer to the riddle I was supposed to be contemplating.
-A few missed social beats. There were a couple points raised that made me think...hm...I'm not sure that says what you want it to say. I think it's good to be more largely inclusive and not to forget that people and their problems are universal and eternal, but I do feel pretty strongly that if we're going to mention it we have a duty to do so carefully. I'm not sure this was as careful as I'd have preferred.
-The end. Another ambiguous ending! Is that the hallmark of this era of fantasy? Must it all be uncertain or taut? Do we not put things to rest? Seems especially odd, in a book that asks that very question. Or maybe that was in fact the point.
In the end it was gorgeous and atmospheric, I'm just not sure I actually got a full story out of it, and it took me over a week of reading to be uncertain of that.
And yet I never felt entirely swayed. This book is the sort you open and it has both atmosphere and an underlying purpose. It is trying to tell us something, to hint at a connection that will reverberate in our minds. I could feel this was what it ought to do. I'm afraid to say I never got the message. Maybe because I was rushed as I read it...but maybe not.
CONTENT WARNING:
Spoiler
death, death of a loved one, genocide, torture, tons of body horror, random violence, suicide, violent racism, casual racism.Things to love:
-The folklore and mythology. If you love myths and legends, this book may well be enjoyable just for that element. There's so much in here, you could have a whole discussion just on the different references in the book.
-Dar Oakley. He's quite a character. I loved getting this book largely from a Crow's perspective. The non-human narrator allows us to see ourselves as if for the first time. And there were a lot of funny or sweet bits that wouldn't have worked if the protagonist were human. Very well done.
-The prose. There were so many beautiful lines in this book that made me stop and think about death, belonging, and what is inevitable, really.
-The timeline. It was a cool use of the different myths and a myth into itself. Very fun.
Things that left me wanting:
-The pace. It is glacial. It all feels like it's hinting at something, and I loved when there were call backs but a lot of it felt to me like the author just sharing cool things he'd learned, rather than cherry picking the best bits to drive his message home. It also started to speed up. We agonized over the first part and each subsequent part seemed to lose more elements, until we just steamrolled over the present day part.
-The modern story line. I didn't get it and I'm not sure what it added. I'm actually not sure what the revenge story line added either.
-The opacity of the story. There was all this hinting, but I never got the answer to the riddle I was supposed to be contemplating.
-A few missed social beats. There were a couple points raised that made me think...hm...I'm not sure that says what you want it to say. I think it's good to be more largely inclusive and not to forget that people and their problems are universal and eternal, but I do feel pretty strongly that if we're going to mention it we have a duty to do so carefully. I'm not sure this was as careful as I'd have preferred.
-The end. Another ambiguous ending! Is that the hallmark of this era of fantasy? Must it all be uncertain or taut? Do we not put things to rest? Seems especially odd, in a book that asks that very question. Or maybe that was in fact the point.
In the end it was gorgeous and atmospheric, I'm just not sure I actually got a full story out of it, and it took me over a week of reading to be uncertain of that.
heregrim's review against another edition
5.0
I really loved this book for the mythology, the story and the characters. I was drawn into this world and it wouldn't let me go.
reneethelibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
This is an extremely meditative and contemplative fantasy books. I'm still collecting my thoughts on it and will post a review here once I have one formulated for my blog.
*Copy provided by publisher for reviewing purposes*
*Copy provided by publisher for reviewing purposes*
sonias's review
3.0
Мы с тобой уже состоим из одних историй, братец. Потому и не умираем, даже когда умираем (с)
Это книга о Смерти.
Поэтому читать было иногда тяжело, хотя порой повествование захватывало до такой степени, что не хотелось прерывать чтение.
Это книга о Вороне, которая рождается и умирает вновь и вновь. Мы видим мир его глазами, поэтому не всегда можно понять, что именно происходит. Проживая эти жизни, мы, как и Дарр, узнаем и понимаем больше, учимся видеть суть вещей даже глубже, чем нам хотелось бы.
В конце книги интересная поясняющая статья, которая напомнила мне учебу в универе - герменевтика, все дела.
Мне всегда нравились истории, где автор играет со словами и смыслами. Говорит об одном, имея в виду другое. В этих историях так и хочется раствориться.
Самое главное в такой игре - не переступить черту окончательно, оставить читаемый сюжет, за которым читатель следует, как Алиса. Тут такой сюжет есть, и эти игры с читателем автор ведет тонко: не путает и не раздражает.
Для меня степень офигенности книги часто определяется тем, что хочется выписывать оттуда цитаты:
Я тебя знаю, сказал он. Я тебя видел там, внизу. Ты почему не в аду?
Мой ад везде, ответил безгубый разбойник, и я навеки в нем (с).
Это книга о Смерти.
Поэтому читать было иногда тяжело, хотя порой повествование захватывало до такой степени, что не хотелось прерывать чтение.
Это книга о Вороне, которая рождается и умирает вновь и вновь. Мы видим мир его глазами, поэтому не всегда можно понять, что именно происходит. Проживая эти жизни, мы, как и Дарр, узнаем и понимаем больше, учимся видеть суть вещей даже глубже, чем нам хотелось бы.
В конце книги интересная поясняющая статья, которая напомнила мне учебу в универе - герменевтика, все дела.
Мне всегда нравились истории, где автор играет со словами и смыслами. Говорит об одном, имея в виду другое. В этих историях так и хочется раствориться.
Самое главное в такой игре - не переступить черту окончательно, оставить читаемый сюжет, за которым читатель следует, как Алиса. Тут такой сюжет есть, и эти игры с читателем автор ведет тонко: не путает и не раздражает.
Для меня степень офигенности книги часто определяется тем, что хочется выписывать оттуда цитаты:
Я тебя знаю, сказал он. Я тебя видел там, внизу. Ты почему не в аду?
Мой ад везде, ответил безгубый разбойник, и я навеки в нем (с).
krisis86's review against another edition
3.0
This book took me FOREVER to read. It was very dense and therefore very slow. Books like that tend to frustrate me, so my rating is probably lower than it should be. It had some very good thoughts on stories and why they are important, but most of the book just didn't mesh with me.
lottpoet's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
tiltingwindward's review against another edition
3.0
A slow, relentless meditation on how humans think about death, but told from the perspective of a crow, who finds it all fascinating and alien. I'm not usually a huge fan of books told from an animal perspective, but this one is certainly worth the read. The book is clearly grounded in some deep research and observation of crow society, and will change how you think about them.
If you haven't read Crowley before, expect something a little dreamlike that starts out slow but builds until suddenly you realize you're being carried along in a much larger current that you couldn't escape even if you wanted to. Which you don't.
If you have read Crowley before, this one is faster paced than the Aegypt books but slower than Little, Big (although with some similar qualities).
If you haven't read Crowley before, expect something a little dreamlike that starts out slow but builds until suddenly you realize you're being carried along in a much larger current that you couldn't escape even if you wanted to. Which you don't.
If you have read Crowley before, this one is faster paced than the Aegypt books but slower than Little, Big (although with some similar qualities).
elsiemookow's review against another edition
4.0
Absolutely amazing book, but I was frustrated by the drag in the middle. I read the first 150 pages in a few pages and then it started to seem repetitive until about 3/4 through.
Slow read, but I'll probably still be thinking about it in 10 years.
Slow read, but I'll probably still be thinking about it in 10 years.