YALIT/Crit

Keturah's Sacrifice?

I read this one so fast, I forgot to use post-it notes! And we all know how much I love those. This book reminded me of some of the comments Russell Banks made about the role of the storyteller in society. Keturah uses her role to tell a complex tale of love and community, and how happily-ever-after is not as "simple" as it may seem. I like how Death makes Keturah question her role in this community, and eventually makes her see that what she has constructed as reality may be the actual fantasy. I wonder what young readers would have to say about this book. What would their opinion be of Death? And would they applaud Keturah for her sacrifices? Would they question the Hart/heart in the forest? I am anxious to see where they go with this.

Wanted: Keturah Full Cast Audio Book!

As I read Keturah and Lord Death, I couldn't help but think about how fantastic this book would be in the Full Cast Audio format, since these characters really leap off the page, demanding a voice. I was a bit reluctant about this book as I began reading it, since anything remotely fantasy-oriented tends to put me to sleep. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, particularly Lord Death. He sounds like a pretty good catch to me. :)

Also in my mind as I read was how appropriate this book would be within the framework of Tamara's seminar on death and dying. I'd even like to see this book examined critically beside some of the more realistic/"problem" novels that were on Tamara's bibliographic list for the seminar--maybe a paper topic?

One other thing that interests me with this text is how we might apply a gendered reading of it and how that reading may be affected by the particular genre of the text (fantasy/fairytale or something similar). Do we have different expectations and perceptions of the way women can be characterized in a fantasy environment over one that is more grounded in the reality we know? I imagine many of us do. What does that mean for the way we apply various critical lenses to the text?

Looking forward to talking about this book with all of you, whether that be today or next week in class! 

So I'm Gloating!!

I was just about to post on our next book discussion title, KETURAH AND LORD DEATH, when I picked up the NYT Book Review. Sure enough! Serendipity! The book is the one YA title featured in the Children's Book Review section that appears every once in a while.

Do read the review.

If you're not registered at the Times, you will probably need to do that before you can read the review.

Some other reviews of KETURAH you might enjoy.

Who is facilitating this discussion that we will have on 4/26? I would like to have two people who read fantasy volunteer.

Do start reading if you haven't already.