by nomad » December 22nd, 2009, 12:42 am
Ok, so I meant a lot later.
Larry, I like your interpretation of the lovers/giants. That makes the bit about the lovers not wanting to grow up because they are afraid of becoming stupid, bullying giants intriguing.
I also agree with dwm that I liked parts of both books better than the whole of either. In Lilith, I particularly liked the skeleton couple and the way the narrator brought Lilith back to life. That was quite dramatic. Also the librarian/crow/Adam. And the leopards were pretty cool. But in Lilith, as in Phantastes, I felt the main character - the narrator - was the weak spot. Of course he's a literary device, but he sort of just stayed a literary device. His lack of character makes the whole thing feel a bit flat, despite the marvelous imagery of the individual scenes. I also just re-read Alice in Wonderland and Alice, who serves the same literary purpose of leading us through a series of odd scenes, has a very definite character. That makes you more invested in her journey. Of course, I realize that Lilith was actually the center of this story, not the narrator, but I still wanted the narrator to be more interesting.
Lilith herself is pretty awesome. Kind of like the one lost lamb that Christ will search for and bring back from the edge of a precipice - except a lamb with fangs.
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"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.