Slashy literature, part 3

[lobelia321]

Here I am, innocently reading my son's current favourite novel, and I come across

.

this.

The novel is Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn. There's a lot of fighting, a lot of intrigue and a love story between the young male protagonist and a young lady.

Here's the young man talking after the death of a nearest and dearest:

While we spoke in whispers in the darkened garden, the silence broken only by the sudden splash of a fish or the distant hooting of owls, the feeling between us had grown more intense. Now, Makoto drew me into his embrace and held me closely. "Whatever you choose, you must let go of your grief," he said. [...]

His affectionate words, his touch, made the tears flow again. Beneath his hands I felt my body come back to life. He drew me back from the abyss and made me desire to live again. Afterwards, I slept deeply, and did not dream.

And just in case there is any doubt left, 5 pages later we get this:

He put out his hand and traced the outline of my mouth, the edge of bone beneath my cheek, the nape of my neck.

I was light-headed with lack of sleep, with grief and desire. I wanted to lie down and be held by someone, but the footsteps were crossing the gravel now.

So much for the innocence of what nine-year-olds are reading, eh.

I immediately googled 'Lian Hearn', and it turns out he (I thought it was a he!) is an Australian children's writer called Gillian Rubinstein.

I am sure she is a slasher!!!! She must be! I wonder what fandom she writes in...

Comments

[cupiscent.livejournal.com]

I know, I know, I know! I boggled at that bit myself. (Read the book about four months ago now.)

But hang on, Lian Hearn is Gillian Rubinstein? Wow. I didn't know that. GR was one of the great authors of my childhood - she wrote for young teens. But now that I think about it, certain elements of her style certainly come through in Nightingale Floor. It's rather simplistic in certain ways.

Which leads me into my next point. Across the Nightingale Floor was quite good. Or at least, it wasn't bad, and that distinguishes it from the vast majority of current new fantasy fiction. But it wasn't anything particularly fantastic, as far as I was concerned. Like I said above, it was rather simplistic. To my mind, that last scene in the temple is the only one that's realised with sufficient subtly and feeling. The rest is a little cardboard, a little 'cliche fairy-tale', a little straightforward. The characters move their dance, which is a very nice dance, but they don't really live it, don't really feel it. Like I said, it's not bad, but I'm not going to rate it up amongst the great, or even really good, fantasy.

Um, yeah. Fantasy geek girl, right here. *g* I'll shut up now.

But yes, that scene is certainly slashtastic.

fantasy

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Well, I read it because my son (who's 9) said I should (it's his book, he bought it -- and little did I know about all the *sex* in it!). And as far as a book read by a 9-year-old goes, I thought this one was really good. Because there are some I simply cannot read.

It's fun enough. And page-turnerish.

The one I really loved was the Philip Pullman 'Dark Materials' trilogy which I read last October. That continues to haunt me.

Re: fantasy

[crazybutsound]

Indeed, this sounds like a very slashy book. I might have to read it myself, then, lol.

As for Philip Pullman, he is a God. Ever since my mother started complaining about my brother not reading enough, I've been reading more "children"'s books than I ever read when I was a child. When I gave the Dark Materials trilogy to my bro, he got so into it, he finished the three books in less than a week. I personally had to wonder about the books being found only in the children's area of the bookshop. I thought those books were so rich and amazingly well written, they deserved to be put on the shelves alongside other fantasy classics.

Have you read some of his other works? They're not as "haunting", but they are really very good. I'm a little sad that so far, only his trilogy has been translated into French. My bro can't read English yet.

Re: fantasy

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Indeed, this sounds like a very slashy book.
Oh, but that's the thing: it's not at all! Until we get to the final pages and we get the above! That's what got me thinking: she *must* be a slasher. She's an author irl and she just can't help smuggling in a bit of slashiness there right at the end.

And Pullmann's other books: yes, I've read one or two but they don't do it for me, alas.