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The Habitation of the Blessed by Catherynne M. Valente is surreal. I do not mean that as complaint, but I do think that if the reader has this infomation going in then they are more likely to appreciate this book. The author does not ease the reader in slowly. From the very beginning the reader enters a world where things most people would expect to be metaphors are interpreted literally.
The story’s dreamlike quality is most prevalent in the presence of human characters. The parts of the story told from the perspective of non-humans, while still unusual, feel more grounded to me. I am guessing this is a case of, “the alien landscape seen through the eyes of an alien looks more natural.” It may also be a result of the author’s skill at portraying humans from a time and culture far removed from my own, making their foreign worldview unexpectedly stranger than the non-humans. There is a lot of good detail about many mythical non-human races, but there was so much of it I was at times wishing for an appendix.
In structure this book is a tale within a tale (with sometimes additional layers of tales), told by a self proclaimed “bad historian”, who is in turn transcribing the accounts of an unreliable narrator (Prester John), a blemmye scribe, and a panoti royal nanny. Together these journals give a taste of the realm of Pentexore; its beginning, its middle and hints of its possible end. They are read in turn, side by side, chapter by chapter, so that sometimes knowledge of the later times precedes knowledge of the beginning. As the chapters advance the transcription of the journals becomes more challenging, and less complete.
I like this book. I find that I am becoming attached to the characters. Many of their actions and motivations speak to me; Imtithal’s willingness to make sacrifices, Hagia’s devotion which is both a virtue and a fault, Hiob’s desperate attempts to preserve knowledge in spite of judgment. Of all the characters in the book my least favorite is Prester John. Some might think it strange to like a book but not like the central character, but I do not consider Prester John the central character. I feel that the land of Pentexore is the, “central character,” and Pentexore is what I am most interested in learning more about in the next book.
The story’s dreamlike quality is most prevalent in the presence of human characters. The parts of the story told from the perspective of non-humans, while still unusual, feel more grounded to me. I am guessing this is a case of, “the alien landscape seen through the eyes of an alien looks more natural.” It may also be a result of the author’s skill at portraying humans from a time and culture far removed from my own, making their foreign worldview unexpectedly stranger than the non-humans. There is a lot of good detail about many mythical non-human races, but there was so much of it I was at times wishing for an appendix.
In structure this book is a tale within a tale (with sometimes additional layers of tales), told by a self proclaimed “bad historian”, who is in turn transcribing the accounts of an unreliable narrator (Prester John), a blemmye scribe, and a panoti royal nanny. Together these journals give a taste of the realm of Pentexore; its beginning, its middle and hints of its possible end. They are read in turn, side by side, chapter by chapter, so that sometimes knowledge of the later times precedes knowledge of the beginning. As the chapters advance the transcription of the journals becomes more challenging, and less complete.
I like this book. I find that I am becoming attached to the characters. Many of their actions and motivations speak to me; Imtithal’s willingness to make sacrifices, Hagia’s devotion which is both a virtue and a fault, Hiob’s desperate attempts to preserve knowledge in spite of judgment. Of all the characters in the book my least favorite is Prester John. Some might think it strange to like a book but not like the central character, but I do not consider Prester John the central character. I feel that the land of Pentexore is the, “central character,” and Pentexore is what I am most interested in learning more about in the next book.
