Sakura of DOOM

*looks at date*

Er. Better late than never?

Once again, I read fewer books this year. On the other hand, only two books less than last year, so I think that is not bad, considering that I started grad school and all! And I managed to blog every book I read, with the exception of rereads.

The biggest change for me in 2008 was starting the 50books_poc challenge; namely, to read 50 books by POC in a year. I had originally done it from IBARW to IBARW (August 2007 to August 2008), but it's nice to know that I met it for the calendar year of 2008 as well. If anyone's interested about why, I wrote up why I count and how the challenge affected me during IBARW 3. Next year, my goal is to increase the percentage of books by POC so that it's over 50% of all the books I read, total. I'm still trying to make it enough of a habit that I won't have to count, and it's rather embarrassing to see the huge jump in numbers once I started making an effort. The gap between 13 books by POC versus 64 is enormous and indicative of my own aversive racism; it didn't actually take that much effort to find those 51 additional books (although a large part of that is thanks to my local libraries, and aversive racism plays its own role in book selection in libraries as well).

It is nice to see that I do not have to worry much about the percentage of women I'm reading.

As always, feel free to ask about anything here.

• ( Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian )



• ( M.T. Anderson, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: The Pox Party )



• ( Atul Gawande, Complications and Better )



• ( Justina Chen Headley, Girl Overboard )



• ( Maggie Helwig, Where She Was Standing )



• ( Angela Johnson, The First Part Last )



• ( David Mas Masumoto, Epitaph for a Peach )



• ( Andrea Smith, Conquest )



• ( Catherynne M. Valente, The Orphan's Tales )



• ( Elizabeth E. Wein, The Mark of Solomon )

( Also recommended )

Total read: 129 (6 rereads)
51 by women of color, 64 by POC, 104 by women

( Complete list of books read in 2008 )

I am not sure how to begin talking about this. To begin, as they say, at the beginning: I picked this up from the library late last year, after hearing buzz about it prior to the Tiptree award and even more buzz after. I read a few chapters, then my brain couldn't process the nested stories, and I was sad that the earlier stories felt Russian or vaguely European in tone. I returned it soon thereafter.

But something about it must have stuck with me, because I picked up the Haddawy version of The Arabian Nights that I've had sitting around for about two years, and the first thing I noticed was a translated metaphor about stories tattooed around eyes, or tattooed stories, or stories around eyes. I can't quite remember, but of course, such is the nature of stories.

I read some interviews with Valente afterward, and despite the somewhat Russian feel to the beginning, I happily noted that she mentioned almost all the characters were POC.

My second hold on the book finally came through a few days ago, and this time, I read it all in two or three sittings.

I give you all this extraneous, boring information about my life because the book itself is about storytellers and their audiences, how audiences become storytellers by telling how the stories shaped their own lives and perceptions, how audiences and storytellers shape the tale told. It's nested tale within nested tale, the final tale at the center swallowing and retelling the framing device. The first time, I was lost in the labyrinth of stories, but on rereading, I stopped marking my trail with white pebbles or breadcrumbs and let myself meander, always trusting the storytellers -- Valente and the orphan girl and the witches and beasts and monsters and virgins and those who are all of them -- to guide me through.

A feral girl in the sultan's garden has stories in tiny type tattooed around her eyes, circling over and over her eyelids. She tells the stories to one of the sultan's sons, though his older sister Dinarzad tries to prevent him from sneaking out. A prince kills a goose who is the daughter of a witch; an orphan girl with hair white as snow listens to a net weaver's tale; Stars are born and fall and die and rise again; cities unveil layers to those patient enough to dig around the foundations, to blow away centuries of dirt and find the history underneath.

I think I will save notes on gender and race for when I read the second book and can go into spoilery stuff. One quick note: At first, I was very confused by the worldbuilding, because though the mention of a sultan and the gardens were reminiscent of Arabian Nights, some of the food didn't feel Middle Eastern (possibly blackberries? I can't quite recall). But then, there would be Chinese-sounding games (lo shen) in an Arabian-sounding city led by a Papess, or Japanese fox women on pirate ships. I found that I tended to be more disconcerted by mentions of things that felt European to me in the cultures that didn't seem to be based on European cultures, or when things from two similar cultures were blended together (ex. foot binding, which afaik is Han Chinese, in the story of a woman with a Japanese name). I was definitely less bothered when the culture-crossing was done with two different European cultures, with a non-European element in what felt like a European culture, or with two different non-European cultures.

Just in case someone takes this wrong, I was not offended, given that every story in the book was multicultural. I.e. I am 99% sure Valente mixed cultures not because she could not distinguish between them, but because she was deliberately trying to include as many as she could and not privilege one over the others (I take off 1% because I am not Catherynne Valente, nor am I telepathic). I just found my own reaction interesting.

I highlight non-Western* cultures above, but in truth, Valente is interested in the stories of all who are usually the objects of stories, not the subjects nor the tellers. There are men and women and women who are men and men who are women and those who are neither; those who would be monsters in most stories are instead holy and beautiful or simply the norm.

The book is deeply transformative, critiquing the old and creating the new, engaging in metanarrative even as it spins an engaging, satisfying story on its own, and I particularly love how dedicated Valente is to the idea of the monstrous and whose perception makes monsters, of her continual highlighting of those who usually live in the margins of stories.

I'm really looking forward to the second book and finding out the story behind Dinarzad and the tattooed girl.

[Note] I know more people have read this! Pass me your links... I am dying to talk about this. Though please no spoilers for the second book.

Links:
- coffeeandink's review
- meganbmoore's review
- interview conducted by the ABW
- magicnoire's review
- interview conducted by rosefox
- minnow1212's review

* I know, I need a better term that does not define by negatives or by contrasting with a mythical norm, but I cannot think of one right now.