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Another loan from Mike in the Art Department. A novel about Cuchulain (pronounced coo-hull'-in), the hero of the Ulster cycle of Irish mythology. I had a bit of familiarity with Cuchulain's stories from the reading I've done in Irish lit--Cuchulain's a big favorite with Yeats, particularly--so I was interested to read this. Eh. Not that great, I didn't think. Part of the problem with a lot of ancient warrior epics (and also with Mike's reading recommendations) is that they're full of battles and wars and fighting. I am not so interested in battles and wars and fighting.
Llywelyn clearly tried to put more emotion and thoughtfulness into Cuchulain's character, but I don't think the third-person narration served her there, nor her choice to include the goddess the Morrigan as an occasional first-person narrator. I didn't really feel engaged with the Morrigan as a character, since mostly she just flew around as a raven and watched Cuchulain do stuff. I mean, if it had been MY novel, I would have written it first-person, from the perspective of Cuchulain's wife Emer, or his charioteer Loeg (pronounced Loy), or maybe even from Emer's sister's perspective. Somebody close enough to watch the events and be swept up in them, and close enough to know the participants well, but far enough away to have some distance on it and some interesting flaws of their own. The problem with Emer is that she's as heroically perfect a woman as Cuchulain is a man, and the problem with Loeg is that he dies earlier (like ten minutes earlier, but still) and also doesn't know some of the facts about Cuchulain's life and ancestry that are crucial to the story. But I honestly think that telling the story of some minor character would be a heck of a lot more interesting than telling it straight from Cuchulain.
The story itself isn't especially geared towards character development, either--the cattle raid of Cooley is basically a big list of people who went to fight Cuchulain and steal a bull, and Cuchulain killed this person and that person and that other person and fought for days without stopping and was brave and strong and etc. His character doesn't do much developing--he's a hero and a champion, always, and doesn't really have any character flaws other than an overinflated sense of honor. So most of the book ends up a big sword-swinging, chariot-riding battle tally. Which doesn't excite me much.
Llywelyn also sometimes in her prose falls into the rhythm of the bardic songs, when she really gets her flow on in the story, but other times that just isn't there at all. I would have liked less of the bardic rhythm, which seemed to be unconsciously done, and which stood out to me.
Oh, and Llywelyn definitely played up some "soldier buddy" affection between Cuchulain and his best friend Ferdiad. Interestingly. Never came out and said anything definitive, but there was significant subtext. Hee.
Overall, I mean, it's not a bad book, and I did enjoy getting some more of the background of Cuchulain's stories, as I've never read the Ulster cycle in full--most of what I know of Irish mythology comes from Yeats, who of course was a master poet/playwright using the tales and characters for his own ends. So it was interesting to see a different take on Cuchulain than Yeats's tragically doomed hero--this Cuchulain was much more in control of his destiny and chose his own fate. But Yeats's Cuchulain is more interesting. Because he's Yeats. Now I kind of want to reread some Yeats.
(Side note: I did not read this entire 493-page book just now--I started it last... Thursday, I think, and have been reading it on the train and at lunch since then, except for yesterday and this morning when I read Polymorph. So it's not like I read cover-to-cover two whole books today; I've been working on this one for several days. This note intended for those who imagine my reading power as some sort of supernatural force.) :)
Llywelyn clearly tried to put more emotion and thoughtfulness into Cuchulain's character, but I don't think the third-person narration served her there, nor her choice to include the goddess the Morrigan as an occasional first-person narrator. I didn't really feel engaged with the Morrigan as a character, since mostly she just flew around as a raven and watched Cuchulain do stuff. I mean, if it had been MY novel, I would have written it first-person, from the perspective of Cuchulain's wife Emer, or his charioteer Loeg (pronounced Loy), or maybe even from Emer's sister's perspective. Somebody close enough to watch the events and be swept up in them, and close enough to know the participants well, but far enough away to have some distance on it and some interesting flaws of their own. The problem with Emer is that she's as heroically perfect a woman as Cuchulain is a man, and the problem with Loeg is that he dies earlier (like ten minutes earlier, but still) and also doesn't know some of the facts about Cuchulain's life and ancestry that are crucial to the story. But I honestly think that telling the story of some minor character would be a heck of a lot more interesting than telling it straight from Cuchulain.
The story itself isn't especially geared towards character development, either--the cattle raid of Cooley is basically a big list of people who went to fight Cuchulain and steal a bull, and Cuchulain killed this person and that person and that other person and fought for days without stopping and was brave and strong and etc. His character doesn't do much developing--he's a hero and a champion, always, and doesn't really have any character flaws other than an overinflated sense of honor. So most of the book ends up a big sword-swinging, chariot-riding battle tally. Which doesn't excite me much.
Llywelyn also sometimes in her prose falls into the rhythm of the bardic songs, when she really gets her flow on in the story, but other times that just isn't there at all. I would have liked less of the bardic rhythm, which seemed to be unconsciously done, and which stood out to me.
Oh, and Llywelyn definitely played up some "soldier buddy" affection between Cuchulain and his best friend Ferdiad. Interestingly. Never came out and said anything definitive, but there was significant subtext. Hee.
Overall, I mean, it's not a bad book, and I did enjoy getting some more of the background of Cuchulain's stories, as I've never read the Ulster cycle in full--most of what I know of Irish mythology comes from Yeats, who of course was a master poet/playwright using the tales and characters for his own ends. So it was interesting to see a different take on Cuchulain than Yeats's tragically doomed hero--this Cuchulain was much more in control of his destiny and chose his own fate. But Yeats's Cuchulain is more interesting. Because he's Yeats. Now I kind of want to reread some Yeats.
(Side note: I did not read this entire 493-page book just now--I started it last... Thursday, I think, and have been reading it on the train and at lunch since then, except for yesterday and this morning when I read Polymorph. So it's not like I read cover-to-cover two whole books today; I've been working on this one for several days. This note intended for those who imagine my reading power as some sort of supernatural force.) :)
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Date: 2007-08-06 07:32 pm (UTC)From:And subtext, eh? Good for her. Hmmm.
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Date: 2007-08-06 08:13 pm (UTC)From: