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A review by lizhasasthma
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
3.0
This is a hard book to talk about. When I first picked it off the library shelf, I didn't know anything about Marion Zimmer Bradley. I'd heard the name, but that was it. When I was about a quarter of the way through the book, I decided to look her up because I was enjoying her writing and wanted to know more about her, but boy did I not expect to find what I did. For those who don't know, Marion Zimmer Bradley molested and abused her daughter for years and protected her pedophile husband from the law until he was finally convicted and put in prison (where he died). I was glad that I found this information because I was thinking about buying my own copy since it's almost 900 pages and I didn't want to risk running out of renews on the copy I was borrowing. Since I'm uncertain as to who the proceeds from her books go to now that she's dead, I didn't want to risk the purchase.
I also had to decide whether or not I wanted to continue reading the book now that I knew about the horrible things the author had done. On the one hand, I was already a fair ways into the book, and I was getting invested in the story, so at the very least I wanted to finish what I'd started. On the other, MZB did some pretty monstrous things and the idea of reading any more of her books made me feel gross. In the end I decided to continue with the book, but this time reading through the lens of my newfound knowledge, and looking for any reflections of MZB's actions in the text.
Now, the text itself. A couple years ago I read TH White's phenomenal The Once and Future King, and while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I was also thoroughly annoyed with the treatment of the female characters, who were all either damsels or villains, where the men got to be fully fleshed out people. Considering the time the book was written in, I wasn't surprised, and I knew there had to be some re-telling out there that focused on the women, and when I found this one at the local library, I had to read it right away.
First of all, I have to say that since my first exposure to arthurian legend in my high school mythology class I've hated the fact that Igrainne was raped by Uther, so the fact that MZB changed that part of the myth earned quite a bit of favor from me. MZB also did a really good job fleshing out the characters, especially in the cases of Guinevere and Morgainne, who I found to be the strongest of all the characters. I also appreciate her interpretations of early British religions, though in all honesty I don't know how accurate she was in her depictions considering how little is known about those traditions. Regardless of accuracy, the spirituality described was well though out, and I enjoyed following Morgainne's spiritual journey, especially towards the end of the book.
As much as I did enjoy the story and the characters, I do have a couple of criticisms. First, the book can really start to drag on, especially towards the end. I wish MZB could've been a little more concise, but I also don't know what could've been cut. My second big criticism is that the book spends a LOT of time bashing christians. While this lessens towards the end of the book, even as a non christian it felt less like a criticism of real problems within christianity as an institution and more like MZB had a bone to pick with every individual christian.
Overall, I think we need to keep in mind that authors, as all humans, are capable of doing monstrous things, and it is up to us as individuals to decide whether we can separate the actions of a creator from their art. I generally don't do this, and in this case continued reading the book with MZB's actions in mind. Whether or not you want to do this is your decision. I enjoyed the book, though that enjoyment was tempered by my knowledge of the author. If you like fantasy, female led narratives, and re-tellings of classic stories and myths, I would recommend this book. Otherwise, I can understand why others would skip it.
I also had to decide whether or not I wanted to continue reading the book now that I knew about the horrible things the author had done. On the one hand, I was already a fair ways into the book, and I was getting invested in the story, so at the very least I wanted to finish what I'd started. On the other, MZB did some pretty monstrous things and the idea of reading any more of her books made me feel gross. In the end I decided to continue with the book, but this time reading through the lens of my newfound knowledge, and looking for any reflections of MZB's actions in the text.
Now, the text itself. A couple years ago I read TH White's phenomenal The Once and Future King, and while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I was also thoroughly annoyed with the treatment of the female characters, who were all either damsels or villains, where the men got to be fully fleshed out people. Considering the time the book was written in, I wasn't surprised, and I knew there had to be some re-telling out there that focused on the women, and when I found this one at the local library, I had to read it right away.
First of all, I have to say that since my first exposure to arthurian legend in my high school mythology class I've hated the fact that Igrainne was raped by Uther, so the fact that MZB changed that part of the myth earned quite a bit of favor from me. MZB also did a really good job fleshing out the characters, especially in the cases of Guinevere and Morgainne, who I found to be the strongest of all the characters. I also appreciate her interpretations of early British religions, though in all honesty I don't know how accurate she was in her depictions considering how little is known about those traditions. Regardless of accuracy, the spirituality described was well though out, and I enjoyed following Morgainne's spiritual journey, especially towards the end of the book.
As much as I did enjoy the story and the characters, I do have a couple of criticisms. First, the book can really start to drag on, especially towards the end. I wish MZB could've been a little more concise, but I also don't know what could've been cut. My second big criticism is that the book spends a LOT of time bashing christians. While this lessens towards the end of the book, even as a non christian it felt less like a criticism of real problems within christianity as an institution and more like MZB had a bone to pick with every individual christian.
Overall, I think we need to keep in mind that authors, as all humans, are capable of doing monstrous things, and it is up to us as individuals to decide whether we can separate the actions of a creator from their art. I generally don't do this, and in this case continued reading the book with MZB's actions in mind. Whether or not you want to do this is your decision. I enjoyed the book, though that enjoyment was tempered by my knowledge of the author. If you like fantasy, female led narratives, and re-tellings of classic stories and myths, I would recommend this book. Otherwise, I can understand why others would skip it.