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Essays on the Essay Film

Nora M. Alter and Timothy Corrigan

(0 Ratings) Rate It

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The essay-with its emphasis on the provisional and explorative rather than on definitive...

Cat Goddess Freyja (16 KP) rated The Bear and the Nightingale in Books

Dec 5, 2018

The Bear and the Nightingale

Katherine Arden | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy

9.4

(17 Ratings)

Book Rating

Writing Style, Story Progression, Literary Choices (0 more)

Nothing! It does, however, follow a straight fantasy story line. (0 more)

Fantastic Read

Contains spoilers, click to show

I loved reading this book. Since reading it, a few weeks ago, it has become the first book that I recommend to someone looking for a good read. The author has brought her characters alive in a beautiful and alluring way. The story is based in Russia with a country noble's family being the main focus. The story itself, is a mixture of a coming of age story- in which the young main character, Vasya, discovers her place in the world- a fairy tale- a mythical snow demon who can only be calmed by a 'sacrificial' woman, who in turn fights with the snow demon against his evil brother- and a religious historical fiction- there is a strong opposition between Vasya, who believes strongly in the magic and old ways of her village, and a christian priest who comes to 'correct' their pagan beliefs and steer them towards God. There is a touch of romance, but it is not overwhelming and is charming in its own way. The characters come across as natural human beings/ mythical beings, and their choices in the story are logical and works well with whatever conflict they face. My absolute favorite thing that the author, Katherine Arden, did, however was her word choice. Karherine studied Russian in school, and knows quite a bit about its culture and language. A brilliant choice on her part, was recognizing that many of her readers may not be as familiar with the Russian language and culture as she is. So, to keep the feel of Russia alive in her book, she took the time to teach her characters beliefs to the reader, and come up with words that sound close to their Russian counterparts but are easy to pronoun for readers who don't know Russian. This is a very thoughtful fiction book and one I recommend for anyone who wants their imagination to shine.