The Bear and the Nightingale
Aug. 3rd, 2020 11:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearThe Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden was recommended to me by a friend, so I decided to give it a go, even though it's not the sort of thing I normally enjoy. I don't know why, but stories based around Russian folk tales normally don't do it for me at all, but this was an exception. It tells the story of Vasya, a young girl growing up in a rural community, who is able to see the spirits that guard the house and protect the forest. She gets caught up in a battle between two of the strongest spirits and has to try and defend her home from a supernatural threat, as well as from the machinations of a new priest to the village, who is trying to get the people to give up the old ways and dedicate their devotion entirely to the Christian god.
It's beautifully written, with amazingly vivid details of setting that really draw you into the narrative. The characters are more rounded and easier to invest in that is often the case with folk-tale-style stories, which helped me attach myself to the story. And the conflict between the different traditions, and the way the interference of the priest (who believes he is saving the souls of the villagers) actually makes things much worse is very interesting.
I felt the title was a bit misleading, since the bear and the nightingale aren't even mentioned until halfway through, and the nightingale doesn't really come into play until right at the end (in a fairly arbitrary way).
But Vasya made for an excellent heroine, struggling against various forces, and trying to help her people in the face of their suspicion and misunderstanding of her actions. The family dynamics were really well drawn, and there were a lot of layers to the different aspects of the story.
So, all in all, a very good read.
It's beautifully written, with amazingly vivid details of setting that really draw you into the narrative. The characters are more rounded and easier to invest in that is often the case with folk-tale-style stories, which helped me attach myself to the story. And the conflict between the different traditions, and the way the interference of the priest (who believes he is saving the souls of the villagers) actually makes things much worse is very interesting.
I felt the title was a bit misleading, since the bear and the nightingale aren't even mentioned until halfway through, and the nightingale doesn't really come into play until right at the end (in a fairly arbitrary way).
But Vasya made for an excellent heroine, struggling against various forces, and trying to help her people in the face of their suspicion and misunderstanding of her actions. The family dynamics were really well drawn, and there were a lot of layers to the different aspects of the story.
So, all in all, a very good read.
