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punkinmuffin's review
5.0
[a:Catherynne M. Valente|338705|Catherynne M. Valente|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1220999852p2/338705.jpg]'s award-winning [b:In the Night Garden|6156690|In the Night Garden (The Orphan's Tales, #1)|Catherynne M. Valente|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1432316335s/6156690.jpg|196179] is a stunning achievement. A girl, cursed with mysterious dark colouring around her eyes, lives wild in the magnificent gardens of a royal palace. One day she's sought out by a boy prince, to whom she reveals her secret: the dark rings around her eyes are actually infinitesimally tiny writing spelling out magical stories. She begins to tell him what's written on her skin. Her tales twist, branch and fold back upon one another in marvelous intricacy. Witches, skin-changers, djinns, wizards, living Stars, maidens, monsters, orphans and many other fantastic creations populate Valente's richly woven tapestry. This novel is such a gorgeous thing to experience because it brings back the childhood joy of discovering the magic of storytelling and just how far a really good story can take you.
brendalovesbooks's review
3.0
I love Catherynne Valente's writing. That's why I'm rating this three stars and not less. It's basically a bunch of short stories that are slightly connected, and I really don't care for short stories. I had no motivation to pick up the book, even though she is one of my favorite authors. It just took me forever to read this book.
strayfe_angel's review
5.0
This book is amazing. Deceptively lovely while being horrifying. Sweetly romantic while being gender subversive. Funny, sad, horrifying and beautiful.
I felt addicted to it while reading it. Love. Love. Love.
I felt addicted to it while reading it. Love. Love. Love.
embereye's review
5.0
I loved this book. It's beautifully written and is definitely for the fairy tale lover. Stylistically it's a series of fairy tales but structurally it's far more intricate than just your typical story as the stories are nested within one another and interwoven in fun and surprising ways.
antigonish's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
missbookiverse's review
4.0
Eigentlich hätte ich dieses Buch bewaffnet mit einem Stift und einem großen Blatt Papier beginnen müssen, um von Anfang bis Ende den Überblick zu behalten. Ähnlich wie bei 1001 Nacht erzählt ein Mädchen einem Jungen jeden Abend eine Geschichte und kommt bis Sonnenaufgang nicht zum Ende, so dass der Junge in der nächsten Nacht zurückkehren muss. Weit komplexer als bei 1001 Nacht sind die Verstrickungen innerhalb der Geschichte und erinnern eher an russische Matroschkas, denn die Hauptfigur begegnet auf ihrer Reise früher oder später einer Person, die ihr eine Geschichte erzählt und in dieser Geschichte begegnet die Hauptfigur auch wieder jemandem, der eine Geschichte erzählt und so steigert sich das bis mir der Kopf schwirrte und ich nicht mehr sicher war, wo das Ganze angefangen hatte. Ab und zu geht es auch wieder rückwärts, nur um wenig später einen neuen Geschichte-in-Geschichte-in-Geschichte-Weg einzuschlagen. Wie gesagt, ich empfehle Stift und Papier, denn die ganze Brillanz dieser Erzählart ergibt sich erst durch die Verstrickungen untereinander. Da kommt es nämlich vor, dass eine spätere Geschichte plötzlich ein Ereignis aus einer früheren Erzählung näher erläutert oder eine Figur in der Hauptrolle auftritt, die lange zuvor nur am Rande erwähnt worden ist.
Von dieser komplexen Struktur braucht sich niemand abschrecken zu lassen, die Geschichten funktionieren auch ohne das große Ganze zu erkennen. Viele sind spannend, manche lustig, andere brutal und melancholisch. Inhaltlich erinnern sie selten an orientalische fliegender-Teppich-Abenteuer und deutlich öfter an Fabeln und Märchen, inklusive sprechender Tiere, unverstandener Monster, böser Zauberer und Gestaltwandlern.
Das Buch ist in zwei Geschichtenzyklen aufgeteilt, The Book of the Steppe und The Book of the Sea. Der erste hat mir inhaltlich besser gefallen. Beim zweiten hatte ich schon leichte Ermüdungserscheinungen und fand es schwerer in die politischen Verstrickungen des Anfangs einzusteigen. Nichtsdestotrotz habe ich Lust irgendwann noch die beiden Zyklen der Fortsetzung zu lesen, die ebenfalls inhaltliche Bezüge zu Into the Night Garden haben sollen.
Von dieser komplexen Struktur braucht sich niemand abschrecken zu lassen, die Geschichten funktionieren auch ohne das große Ganze zu erkennen. Viele sind spannend, manche lustig, andere brutal und melancholisch. Inhaltlich erinnern sie selten an orientalische fliegender-Teppich-Abenteuer und deutlich öfter an Fabeln und Märchen, inklusive sprechender Tiere, unverstandener Monster, böser Zauberer und Gestaltwandlern.
Das Buch ist in zwei Geschichtenzyklen aufgeteilt, The Book of the Steppe und The Book of the Sea. Der erste hat mir inhaltlich besser gefallen. Beim zweiten hatte ich schon leichte Ermüdungserscheinungen und fand es schwerer in die politischen Verstrickungen des Anfangs einzusteigen. Nichtsdestotrotz habe ich Lust irgendwann noch die beiden Zyklen der Fortsetzung zu lesen, die ebenfalls inhaltliche Bezüge zu Into the Night Garden haben sollen.
theesotericcamel's review
5.0
Fantastic is the way to describe this book, it all senses of the word. Very reminiscent of the stories from the Arabian Nights, but with a slightly modern and more Occidental flavour. I am quite sure that Valente took many an inspiration from this ancient collection of stories. Many are the similarities between "In the Night Garden" and "Arabian Nights," but they are all a clear homage rather than a retelling.
The main feature shared by both "anthologies" is that they are a collection of stories within stories, all told within an overarching story. But Valente uses this format to her literary advantage and interweaves the stories. It is a veritable patchwork of stories with some stories left half finished only to be unexpectedly completed in another character's story. Some characters also reappear in other stories further down the line too. As this is only the first book of a two book series, I expect that I have yet to see the full picture that Valente is painting.
Another similar quality between the two works is the propensity for the fantastic. And each story only gets even more fantastic. Yes, this is a fantasy book, but the fantasy that is evoked here is more reminiscent of myths and legends. The kind of stories that you can imagine were told and passed through many generations. The element of Storytelling is constantly brought up, and the girl who is initially telling all of these stories keeps promising the young Prince and even more amazing story next time, very much like Sheherazade did of the Sultan.
Which brings me to my third observation of Valente's book that amused me. There are a lot of clear gender and role reversals that take place in the stories that turn the tables on the classic fantasy tropes. In this case, It is the mysterious storytelling girl, who is an outcast living in the gardens, who has to "rescue" the Prince. A female Satyr finds herself a Selkie husband. Hunters becomes the hunted...
If you love Arabian Nights (as I do), you will enjoy this book immensely.
The main feature shared by both "anthologies" is that they are a collection of stories within stories, all told within an overarching story. But Valente uses this format to her literary advantage and interweaves the stories. It is a veritable patchwork of stories with some stories left half finished only to be unexpectedly completed in another character's story. Some characters also reappear in other stories further down the line too. As this is only the first book of a two book series, I expect that I have yet to see the full picture that Valente is painting.
Another similar quality between the two works is the propensity for the fantastic. And each story only gets even more fantastic. Yes, this is a fantasy book, but the fantasy that is evoked here is more reminiscent of myths and legends. The kind of stories that you can imagine were told and passed through many generations. The element of Storytelling is constantly brought up, and the girl who is initially telling all of these stories keeps promising the young Prince and even more amazing story next time, very much like Sheherazade did of the Sultan.
Which brings me to my third observation of Valente's book that amused me. There are a lot of clear gender and role reversals that take place in the stories that turn the tables on the classic fantasy tropes. In this case, It is the mysterious storytelling girl, who is an outcast living in the gardens, who has to "rescue" the Prince. A female Satyr finds herself a Selkie husband. Hunters becomes the hunted...
If you love Arabian Nights (as I do), you will enjoy this book immensely.
celaeno's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
svnzu's review
it's really good but really exhausting to read because of all the stories and characters to keep track of
theangrystackrat's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0