Kay, Guy Gavriel - Tigana

First things: Wow! We got Saddam Hussein.

Suddenly, the world feels very different.

Catching up on books:

Recently read Richard Feynman's What Do You Care What Other People Think?, which was as fun as his earlier book.

Also recently reread Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, which I think broke my heart a little. It always does this to me. And I always forget what happens in the end, so I'm perpetually surprised by what Dianora does. Spoilers ahead (a little for Fionavar Tapestry too):

There is just so much grief packed into the book -- for Tigana, for Staven, for missing brothers and sisters, for estranged parents and sons. And it sounds so trivial a punishment almost: the book is about the people of Tigana, a province of the Peninsula of the Palm, conquered for about twenty years or so by Brandin of Ygrath and Alberico of Barbadios, two tyrants from overseas battling for this piece of land. And Brandin's son was killed in Tigana, so he erased the name of the province so none but those who were born there or magicians could hear it. Such a little thing, and yet, such a blow. It reminds me of the stories of colonized countries or people who are not allowed to speak their own language, not allowed to teach it to their children. I know a generation in Taiwan grew up speaking Japanese because of the occupation, and I'm sure this happens almost everywhere that is conquered.

Like most of GGK's books, there are sacrifices and noble deeds, everything tinged with that sadness that Tokien brought to LotR, the sense of things passing, the bittersweetness in life and death. The story that always touches me most is that of Dianora and her ill-fated feelings for Brandin, and I always hope that somehow, they get to be reborn in Finavir/Fionavar. Speaking of which, that was one of the most painful things for me in the Fionavar Tapestry, that Diarmuid and Sharra wouldn't get that chance because they had already been born there.

I finally figured out one of the things that has always bothered me about the end of Tigana -- Dianora will be remembered only as Dianora di Certando. Rhun's story will not be remembered at all. And in this book in which memory is so strong and so potent, this seems wrong. These are two people whose true names will never be remembered, and as such, it is almost as though they did not do what they did, that their suffering meant nothing.

I love the last line of the book though.

I always have a hard time talking about these books that affect me so much, because the feelings they evoke are almost too large and too strong to adequately express in words. It's the sacrifices that hit me the hardest, Diarmuid in Fionavar, Dianora and Catriana and Sandre's here, like Buffy in the Gift and Angel in Home.

Links:
- inklings_lj's collected reviews (all spoilery)
- sophia_helix's review (spoilers)

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Watched Fellowship of the Ring again today, in prep for RotK on Tuesday! The boy and I are going to the midnight showing, which means work on Wednesday will be hellish, but worth it ^_^. Some things that strike me:

The Shire grounds everything. It always makes me tear up later, after having seen that beautiful intro to the Shire -- Frodo's vision in Galadriel's mirror, Sam's companionship, Sam's speech in TT, with the faint strain of the Shire music playing, and the exchange between Merry and Pippin: "Don't you get it? There won't be a Shire."

I still miss Gandalf the Grey, who did things like smoke and joke around with the hobbits.

Boromir's fall and Faramir's subsequent temptation are fun parallels. I also heart the extra Boromir scene in the extended ed. DVDs very much, and they make Boromir's words and actions in the council of Elrond make even more sense.

I can't get the image out of my head of Elrond saying, "Welcome to Riveldell, Mr. Anderson."

I also still think that after Elrond has gone through his entire spiel on how they have to destroy the ring and says, "One of you must take it" in that giant silence that follows, everyone has their finger on their nose, except for Frodo, who's never heard of that game.