(no subject)

[skygiants]

I was surprised by how difficult I found A Stranger in Olondria to get through. I think it's one of those books that's written kind of on parallel to my writing sensibilities. Like, I can see very clearly what makes it good, but only from a bit of a distance.

A Stranger in Olondria is about a young pepper merchant named Jevick from a culture which is heavy on folklore and low on alphabets. After being educated by a foreign tutor from the densely literate and exotic-to-him country of Olondria, which is currently undergoing some religious and political difficulties of its own, he takes an educational trip that takes a left turn into OH SHIT when he becomes dangerously haunted by the ghost of a young woman he met on the ship out, who would like him to write her memoirs. Since the existence or non-existence of ghosts is currently a major issue in Olondria's religious-political schisms, Jevick's private haunting soon becomes a lot less private, as various major players begin to take an interest.

Hijinks do not ensue. This is not a book in which hijinks ever ensue; everyone is always too melancholy for that. It is a book that's full of gorgeous prose and evocative worldbuilding descriptions, hanging all through it like rather heavy pearls. Nothing in this book is ever light. Which is fine, but, as I've said before about Catherynne M. Valente, I think my lushness tolerance is a bit mis-calibrated for Sofia Samatar's (very lovely!) writing; like certain fancy dinners, it's all a bit too rich for me, which is maybe why trying to write about it seems to trap me in simile-land. SORRY, I CAN'T SEEM TO STOP.

Anyway, this is not exactly a critique. A Stranger in Olondria is a book that's doing a lot of interesting things; it's engaging very specifically with literacy and culture and beliefs and how those things intersect, and all that is deeply relevant to my interests. There's a lot in the book that's worth reading it for, and I wish I'd enjoyed it more. I suspect a lot of you would like it very much! But it never quite reached me.

Comments

[ellen_fremedon]

Oh, good, it wasn't just me.

[skygiants]

Definitely not just you!

[rymenhild]

I think I might like it very much. Time to find out.

[skygiants]

I DEFINITELY think it would be way up your alley. It does a lot of engaging with traditions of medieval mysticism and saint's lives, too, which, like, I can glancingly appreciate, but you would be ALL OVER.

[newredshoes]

We had the exact same reaction, I feel!

[skygiants]

Hahaha, YEP. Also, I am so with you on wanting more of Jissavet's story and adventures navigating, rather than Jevick's. I love cranky, selfish girl ghosts! But I know why I would like Jissavet and I have NO IDEA why Jevick loves Jissavet.

[newredshoes]

I literally think it's because he saw her as this Annabelle Lee character on the verge of death. NOT INTO IT.

[sovay]

heavy on folklore and low on alphabets

I have not read the book, therefore can't comment on anything else in this post, but I really like this description.

[skygiants]

Thanks!

[luzula]

Hmmmm. This is on my books-to-check-out list, and from this review, I find it hard to decide whether I'd like it! I had a hard time with the Catherynne Valente that I tried for just the reason you describe--too heavy on the lush prose and too little plot--but OTOH I do sometimes like beautiful prose/description for its own sake? Maybe I just like my beautiful prose a little less lush? I dunno. (For calibration, I love Le Guin's prose.)

[skygiants]

I've seen A Stranger in Olondria compared to Le Guin before! It doesn't feel super Le Guin-ish to me prose-wise -- moreso in the slow pacing and the emphasis on cultural description -- but then, the most recent Le Guin I've read is The Dispossessed, which is very seventies-sci-fi-sparse, so I could be forgetting how rich she actually gets when she lets herself go.

[damselfish]

It's interesting that Le Guin comes up, because I am just finishing up the Earthsea books and my thoughts have been "I can see why it's good and a foundational series in the genre, but man, this is not my jam."

[qian]

Yeah, I had the same reaction to this book. But I knew I would find it difficult to get through!

Are you much of a poetry reader? I was wondering whether that makes a difference. (I am not.)

[skygiants]

I am not usually much of a poetry reader either! I would not be at all surprised if that turned out to play a big role in it.

[vass]

I loved it, but I did find it difficult to get through as well. It is very densely written. Like fruitcake. The fancy sort with the more unusual dried fruits and nuts.

I would totally read the wacky hijinks version of Jevick and Jissavet's literary adventures. I may even request that for Yuletide.

[skygiants]

Fruitcake is another one of those joys in life I am congenitally unable to appreciate! :( I strongly dislike dried fruit. MAYBE THAT'S MY PROBLEM.

However I would totally read that Yuletide fic.

[metaphortunate]

This is not a book in which hijinks ever ensue; everyone is always too melancholy for that.

My favorite description of it.

And the characters are weirdly unformed.

The one thing that has stayed with me is Jevick's freak out when he realizes his teacher is showing him not how to....spoiler. If you remember. Loved that bit.

[skygiants]

I don't remember! :O Remind me?

[metaphortunate]

Ok, this is belated enough that I probably won't inflict spoilers on others. :)

Jevick's teacher (I forget his name) makes these marks on paper, and Jevick thinks he's showing him a better way to count, and the teacher keeps saying no, YOU, and eventually it dawns on Jevick that the teacher has written down his name. And that's HIM on the page. He teaches him to write, and it really made me feel what a magic that is.

[skyshores]

Oh wow, I was beginning to think I was the only one who wasn't totally into Catherynne M. Valente's prose! And I'm someone who loves lushness in writing. Yeeaaaah, simile-land was rather absurd. I promptly became frustrated, and out of curiosity tried to count how many of them were showing up per page. I flicked to a random passage and found nine similes in 294 words! I had really tried to like her books, but I gave up after finishing In the Night Garden, because I hear the same kind of rhetorical overload appears in ALL her works.

Thank you for this review! I've been meaning to read A Stranger in Olondria for months now, and this is very informative and helpful.

[skygiants]

I really liked In the Night Garden, actually! The jungle of metaphors felt very appropriate to me there. And then I started reading other Valentes, and it all had ... the exact same density of metaphor ... and I got overwhelmed and now I'm afraid to reread The Orphan's Tales again, because the magic will probably be gone.

I am glad you found the review helpful! :)

[skyshores]

Haha, while I don't actively dislike the novel, I have a few reservations. I think the latter half of the first book held back on the floridness a bit? That and the appropriateness you mention were probably the two reasons that helped me finish it in the first place, although I can still do that appreciating from a distance thing. Aaaaand yeah, this confirms my suspicions! If it's a trait of a static style, then I'd rather not spend more time than I need with other Valentes. Ah... maybe someday, if she ever learns to keep those darn similes in check!