Book Club: The Lions of Al-Rassan (#8)

I am going to try something new with this post, that is starting it before I have actually finished the book. This is, in part, because it is a long and complicated book with many characters and many settings, but also because maybe if I write while I read I will have an easier time expressing what I am thinking. Or at least jot down some guidelines that I can further expound upon once I have closed the final pages.

In general, tidying up news, I am almost 2 months into the year challenge I have set for myself and I have read almost 8 books which tells me that I am keeping a fairly good pace ... I think that in order to accomplish my goal I have to read at least 4 books a month and there need to be at least 2 months where I read 5 books and things should come together quite nicely. Despite all the areas where I seem to be failing lately this is one place where I seem to be right on track and it is kind of refreshing. I think the project is also helping me to slow down and absorb what I am reading and to think at least a little bit critically about it.

As for this book, it was Karen's pick for bookclub as it is one of her favorite books. I am just shy of halfway through and I can already see why. Lions is a complex book with many characters and many landscapes all building upon one another towards the assumed climax of the book - a holy war. It is a bit of a challenge to keep everyone straight ... not only are their religious backgrounds extremely important, there are also their countries/cities of birth, their current location and their past and current allegiances to keep straight. I often find myself flipping back to the maps and charts at the beginning of the book to remind myself of relationships and locations (is Batiara South or East of Cartada?). I do find that the author is clear and concise in his character depictions - if you read carefully it is clear what each character stands for.

I also find that the religious lines are very clearly drawn. There is a bias (or at least I think there is one) towards the groups/people we are supposed to empathise with but there is also a clear explanation of who and what the other groups/other people think and stand for. It feels like everything is carefully planned and plotted and while you might not agree with anyone in particular, you can at least see where they are coming from. I appreciate these subtleties because there is nothing I hate more than thinking wow, that development came out of the blue! and then never having a satisfactory explanation provided.

7. Prince of Dreams

Of the things I am passionate about, fairytales, legends and general mythology come pretty high on the list. So it is fairly obvious that when I find a book that takes aspects of any of the above and spins a new web of a familiar story I am entranced to the point of not wanting to put the book down until every word has been absorbed. Prince of Dreams is one of these books.

The story takes place some years after the death of the legendary King Arthur - the great High King who united Britain for the first (and last?) time in centuries. We follow the lives of Tristan and Essylte who are fated to be lovers and just as fated to have life and other obligations get in the way of their love - most notably that Essylte is promised to the current High King of Britain, who is also Tristan's uncle. With scheming, lying and various other forms of deceipt Tristan and Essylte find ways to be together. Even though they know the consequence for adultery and treason will surely be their death they can not bear to be apart.

There is magic, and history and druidic prophesies that must be fulfilled. There is love and betrayal and every emotion in between. This is a story that brings to life the tensions that must have existed between the Welsh and British kingdoms, as well as the intrinsic fear of outside invaders like the Saxons and the Anglii. It is a powerful story that reminded me why I find old legends and myths so fascinating.

Oh to have been born in a time rife with heroes.

Or maybe heroes can only be present in the past tense. We only admire their daring deeds after time and space from the event have given us the perspective to realize (and exaggerate?) their greatness.

6. Folktales of Ireland

I have always had a soft spot for books of fairy or folktales. So when I spotted this book of Irish folktales I was interested right away, especially since Ireland is another topic that interests me greatly. I was actually hoping for a quick read, thinking that there would be lot of short stories and I would just fly right along. It's taken me over a week to read so I guess that backfired a little.

I had a bit of trouble with reading comprehension - I found that I would get to the end of the tale and wonder what the point of it all was. There are a bunch of indexes at the back that detail theme and motif as well as a set of notes on the tales themselves; sometimes these were helpful and sometimes they weren't. I'm not sure if my confusion speaks more to the translation of the tales from oral Gaelic to written English or to the mediocrity of my knowledge of old Ireland or both. It was definitely frustrating to feel at times that there were references being made that were just passing right over my head. I am not sure if those are references I will ever be made privy to or if they are lost with the oral nature of the tales. I suppose only time will tell.

There were some familiar themes and characters present: the hero & the villain, the tales that involved multiple tasks, the hidden treasures, the animals/undesirables who were really handsome men & women. I felt connected with these motifs and they came along often enough to remind me that there was a common denominator between what I know and what I was reading.

I was also really excited to get to the part about historical characters where they mentioned Daniel O'Connell because Melly & Beth and I learned a little bit about him when we were in Dublin so I was awash with fond memories of our trip together.

NonFiction: The Bedside Guide to Dreams (#5)

I have always been interested in dreams because, well, mine seem to be too crazy for words and I often find myself wondering "what is up with that??" Are my dreams trying to tell me something? Is this the creative side of my personality expressing myself? Do I secretly want to make out with that person because, oh, ew, gross - why am I dreaming about this?!? So I was naturally drawn to the title of this book and really hoped that it might shed some light on the subject.

I don't normally read a lot of non-fiction, something I am trying to change, and in the past it has mostly been character driven stories like Into Thin Air or a book about a couples rafting trip in Baja or a woman's story about her experience with breast cancer. I mean, there were my text books in University but sometimes that was more skimming and attending class than actual reading. So this is sort of a new experience for me.

The format of the book is pretty easy to follow, the author breaks dreams down into 27 sub-types and gives fairly clear definitions complete with real life examples. I am the queen of needing examples in order to understand things better so I really appreciated the effort - although all of the example dreams seemed fairly clear-cut. I guess what I am trying to say is that the book gave me a better abstract understanding of how dreams work but didn't necessarily give me any personal insight into my own dreams. The author does say repeatedly that the book is a only stepping stone and that the best way to understand your own dreams is to work with them on a daily basis. She suggests keeping a dream journal and cites a 5 step method to dream analysis: noting your emotions during and after the dream, finding a theme, matching the theme to real life, noting the symbols/symbolism in the dream, and the application of any insights. I like the idea of a dream journal, what scares me about the practical application of such a task is that I am likely to have a dream, wake up in the middle of the night and need to write about it and this will cut into my precious sleep time. Plus my memory of dreams is not always that stellar - I remember the really vivid ones but a lot of the time I wake up with a sense of shapes or colors and a complete lack of plot.

The author also spends a lot of time talking about how everything is connected - kind of like Jung and the idea of a collective unconcious. She dwells on the amazing (and as yet underexplored) powers of the unconcious - how the psyche seems to be aware of things that we are not always conciously aware of - and mentions how she believes it is possible to travel to other worlds or realms in our dreams. She claims that these trips might actually occur and are remembered as dreams because that is the method the unconcious uses for communication. Ever have your body thud against your bed right as you woke up? Likely it was your soul returning from another astral plane.

I don't know how much I believe or disbelieve ... but I have had enough weird dreams and odd sleeping experiences to believe that anything might be possible.