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Disclaimer: I am biased for A.S. Byatt because she wrote one of my favorite books.
This short book is a re-telling of the Norse myth of Ragnorok, i.e. the epic battle that leads to the end of the Norse gods. The reader is introduced to the myth through the eyes of "the thin girl" who is simultaneously reading and synthesizing the myths and the gods while sequestered in the country due to the evacuation of London during the Blitz. This is the basic premise of the book, with the parallels between wartime and the violence of the myths being both subtly suggested and undermined. There's not much of a story here, but what I love Byatt for is her language. She writes some of the most beautiful, lyrical prose that I have ever read - even when she's just listing things, it still seems to flow. Also, Byatt's brief dissection of myths and discussion of myths vs. fairy tales at the end of the book was very interesting and brought up some subtleties that I had never thought of before.
This short book is a re-telling of the Norse myth of Ragnorok, i.e. the epic battle that leads to the end of the Norse gods. The reader is introduced to the myth through the eyes of "the thin girl" who is simultaneously reading and synthesizing the myths and the gods while sequestered in the country due to the evacuation of London during the Blitz. This is the basic premise of the book, with the parallels between wartime and the violence of the myths being both subtly suggested and undermined. There's not much of a story here, but what I love Byatt for is her language. She writes some of the most beautiful, lyrical prose that I have ever read - even when she's just listing things, it still seems to flow. Also, Byatt's brief dissection of myths and discussion of myths vs. fairy tales at the end of the book was very interesting and brought up some subtleties that I had never thought of before.