Author Archives: Cecilia Quirk

About Cecilia Quirk

Cecilia Quirk's ultimate goal in life is to become 'Avatar: The Last Airbender's' Uncle Iroh, or as close a proximation as possible for a redhaired white woman. Or Granny Weatherwax. Or hell, both. She enjoys green tea, long walks, manipulating causality and afternoons at home. She lives in the Magical Kingdom of the Roundabouts and works as a wild gnome herder.
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La Belle Dame Sans Merci

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THE STERKARM HANDSHAKE

Susan Price (Scholastic, 1998) ISBN: 0590543016 220px-The_Sterkarm_Handshake_cover

The Sterkarm Handshake is yet another book I read in high school and always intended to buy, but never got around to it until quite recently.  I remembered the novel as unusual and not popular, though at the time it felt it had been written for me — a tale specifically for a small subset of nerdy high-schoolers who liked history, historical linguistics, and time travel.  But I returned to the books, for The Sterkarm Handshake is the first of a duology, knowing they were also rather flawed.  I was interested to find out, as an adult reader with the benefit of historical hindsight, why these books did not succeed.  To the best of my knowledge, neither book in the duology is in print any longer.

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I Miss The Rains Down In Africa

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THE POISONWOOD BIBLE

Barbara Kingsolver (Harper, 1998) ISBN: 0-06-017540-0 the poisonwood bible

Ah, Africa.  Africa, Africa, Africa.  Having re-viewed Binyavanga Wainana’s How to Write About Africa (which I have tried linking to, but cannot make it work–sorry!), I’m somewhat more satisfied that The Poisonwood Bible at least doesn’t commit the most egregious of authorial crimes against the continent.  And being aware that the book was written more than 15 years ago, for a white American audience, I should perhaps try to be more forgiving.  Nonetheless, this novel seriously rubbed me the wrong way.  I wanted to like it.  I wanted to love it, because it had been recommended me so many times by people whose opinions I trust.  I felt certain I would love it.  What a bitter betrayal.

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The Bygone Glories Of The Spring

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HEAVEN’S NET IS WIDE

Lian Hearn (Hachette, 2007) ISBN: 978 0 7336 2144 4 Heavans net is wide

At last, we’re here, Heaven’s Net is Wide, the prequel to the Tales of the Otori trilogy.  And, it should be added, I am sufficiently backlogged that I feel comfortable in saying my reviews will now be a weekly event.  You may celebrate in whatever way you feel appropriate.

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The Mighty Fall At Last, They Are Dust Before The Wind

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THE HARSH CRY OF THE HERON

Lian Hearn (Hachette, 2006) ISBN: 13 978 0 733621 26 0

The Harsh Cry of the Heron is set some 14 years after the close of the original Tales of the Otori trilogy.  The story features Takeo’s three daughters to Kaede, Shigeko, Miki and Maya, and his illegitimate son Hisao, as well as Takeo and several other of the characters we met in the previous trilogy.  Takeo and Kaede have a united the Three Kingdoms as co-rulers, protecting the Hidden from persecution and driving the mercenarial Tribe into hiding.  Unfortunately, the seeds of conflict planted over the past 14 years are coming to a head.  Takeo must tread carefully if he wants to maintain everything he and his wife have struggled for.

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Existing In Heaven And Earth

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BRILLIANCE OF THE MOON

Lian Hearn (Hodder, 2004, ISBN: 0-7336-1564-3)

Brilliance of the Moon is the last in Lian Hearn’s original Tales of the Otori trilogy.  It takes place shortly after the conclusion of Grass for his Pillow.  Takeo and Kaede have married in secret, against the wishes of their protector, the warlord Arai Zenko.  Otori and Tribe forces both threaten Takeo and he is forced to flee with Kaede to Maruyama.  Events conspire against them and the pair, after setting up their ambitious plans for the future, are separated.

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The Spring Rain Is A Thread Of Pearls*

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GRASS FOR HIS PILLOW

Lian Hearn (Hodder, 2003) ISBN: 0 7336 1563 5

Taking up directly after the events of Across the Nightingale Floor, Grass for his Pillow finds Kaede in a state of hypnotic sleep and Takeo working for the ninja-like Tribe which has claimed him for their own.  Neither is now happy with their lot.  Takeo has sworn himself to the Tribe, as well as to an up-and-coming warlord, but desires only to honour Otori Shigeru’s wishes that he should claim leadership of the Otori clan.  Kaede, meanwhile, longs for Takeo.  She is certain he will return to her, yet has her own doubts. Continue reading

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This Lone Boy Sets Off On A Journey

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ACROSS THE NIGHTINGALE FLOOR (TALES OF THE OTORI BOOK ONE)

Lian Hearn* (Hodder, 2002) ISBN: 0 7336 1565 1

As a child and teenager, for no discernible reason, I was a total weeabo.  I loved Japan.  I loved Japanese clothing, I loved learning about Japanese language and culture, and I was determined to go to Japan as soon as I could.  I don’t know where this obsession originated.  The obvious contenders are Sailor Moon and Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, a tv series and book respectively, which were likely my first encounters with Japan–even though I believe the latter was written by an American.  I’ve been to Japan twice now, and I’ve also made a conscious effort to ramp down my adoration because I’ve learned that fetishising cultures like that is not a cool or respectful thing to do.  Nonetheless, Across the Nightingale Floor, first in the Tales of the Otori trilogy**, represents a perfect union of three of my great loves–Japanese culture and history (albeit in a fictionalised Japan-like society), fantasy, and beautiful writing.

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We Russians, We Have Only Our Winter

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DOCTOR ZHIVAGO

Boris Pasternak (trans. Max Hayward and Manya Harai, Vintage, 2002 (first published Collins and Harvill, 1958)) ISBN: 9780099448426

Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago has been lauded for almost 60 years as one of the greatest love stories of all time.  An epic set during the Russian Revolution, it saw its author awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and has been adapted several times for the screen in both Russian and English.  With the weight of its renown, but without much notion of what the story was actually about, I looked forward to falling in love with this book.  Unfortunately, I didn’t.

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One Hundred Different Flowers Bloom Inside a Woman

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THE STORY OF LIFE ON THE GOLDEN FIELDS, VOL. 1-3
Kim Dong Hwa (trans. Lauren Na, First Second, 2003) ISBN: 978-1-59643-458-5; 978-1-59643-459-2;  The colour of earth978-1-59643-460-8

Kim Dong Hwa’s The Story of Life on the Golden Fields is a series of three gorgeous manhwa (Korean graphic novels and comic books), telling the story of Ehwa and her widowed mother as they wait for love. Based on the life of Kim Dong Hwa’s mother, it is set in a rural Korean village and has a timeless feel to it. Slow-moving and elegant, the books are part coming-of-age and part love story.

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Gast Monkey

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MonkeyIn honour of World Monkey Day, I shall share the only notable monkey story I know.

When my grandma was a little girl, the family had a pet monkey.  My great grandfather was a merchant seaman and obtained it on one of his travels.  When great-grandma was cooking the monkey watched her and soon learned how to turn the oven on.

One day, while the family was out, the monkey decided to cook itself some food and turned on the oven.  When the family returned, they found the monkey dead from the oven gas.

My great uncle cradled the wee dead monkey in his arms and placed it on the sofa.  To ensure nobody disturbed it, he put a sign over it, saying, “GAST MONKEY, DO NOT TOUCH”.

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I Will Be Called Murderer

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MY NAME IS RED

Orhan Pamuk (Knopf, 1998) ISBN: 0-571-20047-8

My Name is Red is a complex murder mystery set in 16th century Istanbul.  It has taken me 4 attempts to read.  I can’t really point to why.  I suspect it might be a combination of my fundamental disinterest in the murder mystery genre, and a general failure to relate to very many of the characters.  Perhaps, too, it might just be that Orhan Pamuk’s prose, while beautiful, makes it difficult for me to feel the emotional pull of the story.  Since I can’t read Turkish it’s impossible for me to say whether this issue arises from the translation or from the author’s style itself.

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The Beautiful People

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AMERICANAH

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Knopf, 2013) ISBN: 9780007356348

Americanah is a sharp and absorbing consideration of the migrant experience, identity and relationships.  It follows Ifemelu and Obinze, who fall in love as students in Nigeria and have two very different experiences upon deciding to migrate to the US.  Though it is the story of both Ifemelu and Obinze, Americanah concentrates foremost on Ifemelu and her quest for identity.

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      THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS Poul Anderson ISBN 0-441-80822-0 Three Hearts and Three Lions was published in 1953, well after Tolkien’s The Hobbit but approximately contemporary with The Lord of the Rings. Whether Poul Anderson had read The Hobbit isn’t easy to determine, but it’s safe to say this is … Continue reading