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A review by melissa_who_reads
Ragnarok by A.S. Byatt
4.0
Chewy. The myth of the end of the Norse Gods, intertwined with the understanding of "the thin child," evacuated to the English countryside during wartime, and her knowledge of the happenings of adults. Interesting for the words Byatt uses -- she loves the words of the descriptions of the gods and their world, the things they eat, the places they inhabit. Also for the thin child's comparison of the Norse myths versus the Christianity she is asked to believe in at church, and her refuge in the books of her mother.
Some nice insights into the benefits of war-time versus the return to peace: they move back to their home city, and the thin child with asthma suffers, as does her mother, who had thrived in war-time, teaching as the men were all off to war -and now in peacetime became a prisoner in her own house, a "housewife," and consequently suffers from depression and other ailments.
In many ways, a lovely little book.
Some nice insights into the benefits of war-time versus the return to peace: they move back to their home city, and the thin child with asthma suffers, as does her mother, who had thrived in war-time, teaching as the men were all off to war -and now in peacetime became a prisoner in her own house, a "housewife," and consequently suffers from depression and other ailments.
In many ways, a lovely little book.