phuongthao928c

I'm going to be the first to admit that these books are a little hard to get into. Aside from the fact that people keep quoting poetry or alluding to ancient myths you only dimly remember, the writing is erudite. I picked this book up and put it down three times before I finally made it through the first chapter. (I had also put it down at one point because, frankly, I couldn't stand Lymond.) But I'm glad I persevered: in it's own way the style is lovely and lyrical. It's not exceedingly accessible but then neither is Shakespeare. These novels are steeped in historical detail and Lymond is a lot of fun to follow around. Some of my friends have criticized this book because Lymond is too perfect: He excels at poetry, archery, sword-fighting, writing, seige-planning, foreign languages, card-playing, inspiring rabid loyalty, teaching, investigative reporting, blackmail and springing people from prison, among other things. The argument is that Lymond is Superman. OK, I can allow that. He's good at an awful lot of things, but that's actually one of the themes in the book: How society judges people based on their skills. And even if it wasn't, if people didn't like reading about astonishing characters, both Marvel and J.K. Rowling would be out of business. Dunnett writes vividly, create scenes that gleam like gems, but she also writes with humor and compassion, two characteristics that historical fiction novels often lack. If you must understand every little epigram Lymond lets slip, there are two companion volumes that translate the songs, poetry and quotes and explains Lymond's more obscure references. However, I found I was able to follow the plot and identify with the characters without needing to know the literal translation of everything. Even if you don't understand half of what Lymond says (and you do understand far more than that) these obscure quotes illustrate his intelligence, education and restless wit, which is, I think, actually the point. Also, once you've powered through this book, the rest get easier, and this one is much easier the second time around. I treasure this one for the presence of Christian Stewart and Will Scott. For the scene in the brothel, when Lymond laughs. The scene with the Spaniard that I will never forget (poor Will). The fair, both for the heartbreaking scene with the parrot and the hilarious one with Sybilla's shopping.

2023-06-29 00:18