Hi- I just wanted to correct a misconception: Tigana was
not Kay's first fanatsy novel - it was The Summer Tree and
two more books in a series.
I am very fond of all of his books, Tigana among them, but
so far my favorite is A Song for Arbonne, on a number
of levels, from his use of both Old Provencal culture and
literary forms to his transformation of the ethos of
courtly love. I have read " The Lions" but not connected
so intimately with it...
Jan BOgstad bogstajm
At 14:17 10/27/97 -0500, you wrote:
>On October 21, 1997, Yvonne Rowse wrote:
>>Talking about the reality of war etc, have you read _The Lions of
>>Al-Rassan_ by Guy Gavriel Kay? I cultivate a poor memory so I can read
>>things again and be (relatively) surprised and it's been a year since I
>>read it but I remember it being streets ahead of Tolkein on the reality in
>>fantasy front. I think I'll read it again and bring it up for discussion.
>
>Dear Yvonne (and other Feminist SF'ers),
>
>I have to agree with you on Kay. In general, I think that a lot of
>contemporary fantasy has surpassed Tolkien in creativity. That doesn't
>mean I don't admire Lord of The Rings as a classic. In actuality, I tend
>to feel that Tolkien's lesser known contemporaries (Mervyn Peake and E. R.
>Eddison) are just as interesting, if not moreso, in their own ways. I
>stopped reading Tolkien a long time ago, but I have to thank him
>posthumously for getting me interested in fantasy and reading in general.
>I probably wouldn't be a graduate student in an English program, if I
>hadn't been exposed to Tolkien, and become a fan of him and many others.
>Anyway, enough testimony.
>
>I like _Lions_, but IMHO, his first speculative historical fantasy,
>_Tigana_, was the one which resonated the most with me. Speaking as a
>literary critic and scholar, I have to say that I was really impressed by
>the way he worked the whole question of imperialism, nationalism, and
>nationalist liberation into the story. There's a real depth and power to
>_Tigana_ which I haven't found in the other two speculative histories he
>has written. Comments? Responses?
>
>Erik
>
>Erik Tsao
>Department of English
>Wayne State University
>Detroit, MI
>
>"Ah! to return to life! To stare at our deformities. And this poison, this
>eternally accursèd embrace! My weakness, and the world's cruelty! My God,
>have pity, hide me, I can't control myself at all! I am hidden, and I am
>not.
> And as the Damned soul rises, so does the fire."
>
>-- From Arthur Rimbaud, "Night in Hell," _The Complete Works_. Tr. Paul
>Schmidt. New York: Harper, 1975.
>
>
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