Just finished The Moon and the Sun last night. What a wonderful book.
Publishers Weekly compared it to Patricia Anthony's equally well-done
God's Fires, perhaps because both books involved encounters between human
beings and the alien in pre-modern times (Anthony's novel is set in
Portugal in, if I remember correctly, the 15th or 16th centuries--
McIntyre's, in France during the reign of Louis XIV) and there are some
other similarities. Both are beautifully written and full of historical
detail, concern scientific discoveries that run contrary to accepted
Christian dogma, and involve extremely well developed characters.
There are some interesting differences, though. Anthony's fiction is
rarely explicitly feminist, although it's there implicitly. The Moon and
the Sun is quite explicitly feminist. At times it even reminded me of
The Handmaid's Tale in its depiction of narrowly constructed and repressive
gender roles, and the hypocritical way in which those in power feel free
to ignore the rules they themselves have set up.
Harking back to an earlier discussion on the list, though, this book should
particularly appeal to and strike sparks for anyone interested in Margaret
Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle. The protagonist is a penniless young
noblewoman with a talent for science (and music and art for that matter)
who discovers that almost no one will take her work seriously simply
because she is female. Like Margaret Cavendish, her interests in and of
themselves, put her in danger of being defined as insane.
Mike
Michael M. Levy levym@uwstout.edu
Department of English levymm@uwec.edu
University of Wisconsin-Stout off. ph: 715-834-6533
Menomonie, WI 54751 hm. ph: 715-834-6533
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