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The Labyrinth Catherynne M Valente 9781894815659 Books

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The Labyrinth Catherynne M Valente 9781894815659 Books

This is not a book for people looking for a quick easy read, or for those that are looking for a sharply defined, concrete plot. It is a book for people who can appreciate complex, beautiful language surrounding a mythological tale. The book tells us about the Seeker in the Labyrinth, who no longer seeks the Center. She has swallowed the Compass Rose which helps her direction. She has been here a long time and has learned to avoid the snapping jaws of doors and other dangers. Along her journey she meets a dark angel who nearly destroys her, a curious lobster who provides her a key, and a monkey guide with his own agenda.We follow her though her changing person and personna as she travels. I enjoyed this book and appreciated the author's gift for poetic language. For those who might want a book with equally wonderful language, but with a plot more easy to follow, I would highly recommend her book, Palimpsest.


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The Labyrinth Catherynne M Valente 9781894815659 Books Reviews

A timeless, endless journey through a labyrinth metamorphosizes into a quest to find its center. This is classic early Valente, prose poetry, mythpunk, an intentionally anachronistic mishmash of imagery swathing a powerful metaphor. I found it more successful than Yume no Hon--partially because I prefer its metaphor, but also because the labyrinth as metaphor works so well it justifies Valente's unspooling, claustrophobic prose; the cyclical plot may be frustrating, but it has a sense of inevitability and necessity. Perhaps The Labyrinth could benefit from paring down, and there are better Valente novels (objectively, and as starting places) than this first work. But I adored it just as it is unsubtle and unrestrained, ornate, messy, magical, inspired, driven, powerfully imagined.
I really enjoyed Catherynne Valente's book Palimpsest, as well as the short story she contributed to Troll's Eye View A Book of Villainous Tales. So I was eager to read more of her works. I am so glad I did, I absolutely loved this book, it read more like a gothic epic poem than an actually book but was absolute enrapturing. The content is very dreamy and may not be for all readers; those readers who don't enjoy abstract stories and poetry should probably stick with something else.

This book tells the story of a girl stuck in a Labyrinth. She is a Wanderer and wanders through the Labyrinth fighting madness the whole way. She complete various tasks and meets strange creatures all in a quest to escape the Labyrinth. She is constantly trying to outrun Doors, that threaten to devour here.

This book reads like a crazy dream. At some times you get caught up the beautiful and poignant descriptions and loose the storyline for a bit, but Valente always tugs you back to the story at hand. I can't say enough how beautiful, artistic, and wonderfully abstract the language throughout this novel is; I absolutely loved it.

There are times where you can get a bit confused about what is happening, most of these times coincide with the dream-like periods of madness that the main character goes through. The first madness period had me befuddled, but after the second bit of madness I figured out what was going on and then was struck by how cleverly Valente is representing this character's insanity. The story snaps back to a more traditional form as the character meets up with and is forced to converse with various strange creatures in the Labyrinth. These portions of the story are written just as beautifully but less abstractly and take the reader through a more traditional fairy tale like plot.

I was struck by how this story reminded me both of The Jabberwocky (in the somewhat made-up words that were used throughtou) and also of Alice in Wonderland (as the main character struggles through a world that doesn't make sense).

I love different things and beautifully dark stories and this book was both of those things in spades. That is not to say this story will be for everyone. If you don't like poetry or abstractness in your stories I wouldn't read this book. A lot of the story is woven of analogies and words that don't make clear-cut sense. If you are the type of person who likes absolutes and well-defined stories and characters this probably won't be your cup of tea. I can see how this story and the writing style would be just plain too strange for some folks.

Overall a beautiful, creative, and different read that I found to be exquisite. Valente is quickly turning into one of those authors that can do no wrong in my eyes. I feel like everything I read from her is strange, wonderful and absolute golden.
I don't often book review to this extent, but I almost needed to in order to grasp this mercurial curiosity of a novel.

The Labyrinth is Catherynne Valente's first novel. The female Narrator is a self-described Seeker, seeking nothing-in-particular because there is nothing but the Labyrinth - no beginning, end, start, finish or center - this she just accepts. She simply keeps moving, avoiding Doors that hunt like predators to swallow their prey to an unknown fate. But an ice-fishing, pipe-smoking Angel curses her with a Purpose that poisons her self-image and existence, and puts her on a quest-that-is-not-a-quest. The narrator's appearance shifts forcibly, influenced by the variety of landscapes and her experiences.

It is apparent early on that this is not linear story-telling, and you begin to wonder if underlying it is a disturbing madness in the mind of the narrator. How far deep and far gone is she? Is she in fact any more important a character than any she encounters, or the Labyrinth itself? Are they one and the same? Phrases echo and descriptions overlap.

While the Narrator's tone is somber, fragmented and often severe, her interaction with the Carroll-esque creatures in the Labyrinth are quite whimsical. Most amusing being the Crocodile Prophet evangelizing the gospel of the Man and the Bar. ("If you could only understand that there is only one Man, and only one Bar, and they walk into each other, and they are the same.") Most important, perhaps, the Trickster Monkey.

The novel is fantastically word-thick and abstract, poetry parading as prose. The metaphors and descriptions are startling, vibrant, puzzling, sometimes even crude. At first I thought the book ponderous and pretentious, but I got sucked in. I can't help but admire a writer who can allow me to get lost in the richness of one simple paragraph. At some point you fall into the rhythm of her writing and it becomes more and more beautiful. By the end, there is much to ponder and drawn conclusions from, but I'll refrain from sharing my own.

I want to loan this out and share the beauty in this novel, though I'm not sure I know anyone personally who has the taste and inclination to read it. Read if you have a poet's heart and more than an inkling of madness.
This is not a book for people looking for a quick easy read, or for those that are looking for a sharply defined, concrete plot. It is a book for people who can appreciate complex, beautiful language surrounding a mythological tale. The book tells us about the Seeker in the Labyrinth, who no longer seeks the Center. She has swallowed the Compass Rose which helps her direction. She has been here a long time and has learned to avoid the snapping jaws of doors and other dangers. Along her journey she meets a dark angel who nearly destroys her, a curious lobster who provides her a key, and a monkey guide with his own agenda.We follow her though her changing person and personna as she travels. I enjoyed this book and appreciated the author's gift for poetic language. For those who might want a book with equally wonderful language, but with a plot more easy to follow, I would highly recommend her book, Palimpsest.