Snippy Snippets: "The Separation" by Christoper Priest

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"The Separation" by CHRISTOPER PRIEST is a prime example of great and mind-boggling alternative history fiction. You get caught up in a story narrated by two identical twins through their journals and a few external publications on the lives of the two. The story is about the lives of Jack (the bomber pilot) and Joe L. Sawyer (the pacifist ambulance driver) during the WWII England. They have a love-hate relationship and they are both in love with the same woman. The war and their personal differences separate them, but as we follow their journal entries and external ("objective") facts are introduced along the way via newspaper articles and other official publications, we realize that a lot of the information we picked up along the way really contradicts itself. Priest does not spoon-feed the reader with the right answers, but leaves you to juggle with your thoughts and come up with a reasonable explanation for what was really going on. The writing is superb as well. A great page-turner even though the book offers limited action. If you want a breezy read full of adventure this probably isn't it, but what it offers is high quality drama, a well-written and highly enjoyable prose (the red herrings and the conflicting facts are masterfully woven into the fable so they don't disrupt the flow of the novel at all), and a sharp mind to connect the dots at the end to come up with an answer for the factual discrepancies. A great, heartily recommended read! Somewhere in between 4/5 and 4.5/5.

- Thrinidir -

The Cathedral (Short Animated Movie)

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"The Cathedral" (Amazon: USA)
by Tomek Baginski (IMDB)
based on a short story by Jacek Dukaj
running time: 6 min 20 sec

Yeah, I know, "The Cathedral" (orig. Katedra) is far from being a new thing. It impressed me back in 2003 when it was nominated for an Academy Award and I'm sure that it was the same with many of you. I rediscovered it now - and was impressed again.

For those who managed to miss it: "The Cathedral" is a short animated movie, made back in 2002; the author is Tomek Baginski (also the author of "Fallen Art"). It was nominated (as mentioned above) for Oscar in 'Best Short Film, Animated' category and won the title of 'Best Animated Short' - Siggraph 2002. It's available on DVD (region 1 format only), but you can also watch it on YouTube. I warn you, though - you should really see it in high-res. :)

But there was one thing I managed to miss - the film is based on a short SF story by Jacek Dukaj. The story, however, is originally written in Polish and was never fully translated (at least not officially; if there is a translation on the Internet I don't know about, feel free to notify me). You can find the translated parts of it here - they are pretty awesome. There are also some other partly-translated short stories on Dukaj's site, along with selected excerpts from one of his novels, "Black Oceans". His only short story that's been fully translated is "The Golden Galley" - you can find it in The Dedalus Book of Polish Fantasy.

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~Trin~

Lian Hearn - Across the Nightingale Floor (Book Review)

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I've heard much about "Tales of the Otori" lately. I've had a brief glance at this series in the bookshop, and since then every time I've asked a younger reader to name some of his/her favorite books, there would always be "Tales of the Otori" mentioned somwhere among the works of Pullman, Tolken, Rowling and others. I've always enjoyed YA fantasy and for this reason decided to give the first novel in the Otori saga a try.

“Across the Nightingale Floor” met my expectations – but admittedly, they were not set very high. The characters are the strongest point of the book; they are emotional, vivid and easy to sympathise with. However, this is only true where the main cast is considered, since the secondary characters seem somewhat pale in comparison. Apart from the ones that are strictly good and those that are strictly bad remain only the mercenaries (represented as diferent shades of grey), which provides for a poor assortment of characters. Even at the moment popular themes that demand the inclusion of the privileged upper classes is not included, and while that is commendable for the sake of not overusing the genre clichés, it sadly also means lesser variety between the characters.

Another thing that gives the book some credit is its unusual setting for a typical fantasy - that means that the scene is not a typical medieval imaginary world influenced by Western European culture, but rather a medieval Japan influenced world. This is pretty refreshing for a reader of fantasy fiction who is used to Anglo-Saxon myths; and for some reason, it also works wonders for some of the younger anime/manga fans. (Some of the older ones, on the other hand, despise any attempt at comparison between the two, claiming that ‘…she (Hearn) tried to be convincing, but didn't manage to do it, because the approach she took is too Western-style based’.)

The main flaw that bothered me is the fact that everything is so simple and undemanding of the reader throughout the book. The plot is completely straightforward; I can’t remember reading anything so thoroughly predictable in the last few years. There was only one turn that could be marked as ‘partly surprising’, and even that one left me completely cold – Hearn attempted to conjure an inescapable situation, but failed to do it convincingly.

There is some humour present in the story, but it left me nonplussed for the most part, with barely making me smile here and there (though I have to admit I burst out laughing at one part of the book that most definitely was not meant to be funny). It’s true that the novel could be described as a decent read in the end, without ever completely boring the reader. This is achieved by employment of a high tempo story-telling, but which is obviously a double-edged sword – the happening seems even less realistic and while in some books that’s a gain, it presents another flaw in "Across the Nightingale Floor". The plot itself doesn't help much as it is pretty conventional – it’s a typical story of a rural, uneducated boy, whose family is slaughtered and his village burned; afterwards he runs away to live with nobility, where he discovers his real heritage and the hidden magical powers he possesses - and in the end he becomes a hero. Oh please. Just because it’s a YA book, it doesn’t allow the author to get away with a crappy plotting.

As already mentioned, "Across the Nightingale Floor" is not a badly written book. The characters are likeable; there is an interesting romantic relationship between the two main protagonists and so on. However, this is the kind of book that are written for totally inexperienced or just undemanding readers. It’s a good beach read and recommended for those who are taking their first steps into the world of (fantasy) fiction, but experienced readers won't miss anything if they never come across "Tales of The Otori".

(1.5 out of five)

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~Trin~