In a message dated 97-12-18 18:20:04 EST, you write:
> I think it was probably me that you are referring to as I posted
> something about Deerskin on Sunday. With all the talk about doing a
> group read I wanted to suggest Deerskin as an option.
I would definitely recommend it as something for a group read as well, now
that I've read it through. And thanks, by the way, for pointing me toward it.
> Deerskin ranks right up there as one of my favorites. I liked
> everything about it. I love the fairy tale kind of fantasy, the
> atmosphere was lovely. I have a really strong bond with my dogs and was
able to
> relate to Lissar and Ash's relationship.
I really liked the relationship with Lissar and Ash. And I really love the
atmosphere as well. The other two books ("The Hero and The Crown" and "The
Blue Sword") have the same sort of ambiance of being part fairy tale, part
fantasy. I think it's one of the things I like best about Robin McKinley's
writing. Her "Outlaws of Sherwood" is written in much the same tone.
> I read some reviews of Deerskin and some readers found the
> relationship of Lissar with her father very disturbing and that this
> detracted from their feelings about the novel. My feelings are that
> incest is a very real thing in some families and should not be swept
> under the carpet. I've read some of the old fairy tales recently and
> they were pretty scary too, not warmed over Disney.
I agree that the relationship of Lissar and her father was pretty disturbing,
but really, it should be. I would definitely not enjoy a novel that made
incest _not_ disturbing. And I agree with you totally, that incest is
something that unfortunately happens every day (at least in the U.S., I'm not
familiar with statistics anywhere else, although I can't imagine any country
is free of it) and we (as a society) need to deal with it rather than trying
to "ignore it away" as so many are willing to do.
> I have not read the two other novels that you mentioned but I
> plan to in the very near future. I too was pretty shook up after reading
> Deerskin and it stuck with me for days. I haven't read The Hero and the
> Crown or The Blue Sword because I had seen them classified as young
> adult and didn't realize they were in the same world as Deerskin.
Now that you mention it, they are more "young adult" than "full adult" I
guess, but I enjoyed them so much when I first read them (at 12-14, now that I
think about it) that I don't think too much about the level they're written
at.
> I'd also would like to hear what others think of Deerskin and especially
> what you think of it as you seem to have been as affected by it as
> I was.
I did like the book a great deal. I'm still kind of "processing" through my
own feelings about it (along with being really short on time now with the
holidays), so I'm still interested in discussing it, although I think I need
another couple of days before I can really deal rationally with it. (I'm also
catching up on my sleep because I kind of gave up sleep for a while in order
to finish it - talk about inhaling a book!)
I'm looking forward to see what other people have to say about it (or any of
Robin McKinley's work, for that matter), and will post my own
thoughts/feelings in a few days, I promise. :)
Barbara Benesch
BJBenesch@aol.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 25 2000 - 19:07:45 PDT