I finally decided that it was time to pick up Tales of the Otori again--time to grow up and get over my disappointment from the last book I'd read. Grass for His Pillow turned out to be less intense than the first two books, with no major surprises or twists. There's still a fair amount of action, tragedy, etc, but this volume is suffering from the 'middle of a trilogy' effect. (despite the fact that there's five books in the series :-p)
Overview (Spoiler Threat: Moderate)
It's hard to give a summary of the middle book without giving away some of the earlier books, so if you care about spoilers, it's probably a good idea to skip this whole review and just check out the review for Heaven's Net is Wide.
When we left off, Evil Overlord was dead and Beautiful Not-a-Maiden-Anymore was left heartbroken because Lonely Emo Hero had to go pursue his destiny.
Okay, that's an unfair simplification, but only kind of. Luckily, Takeo quickly regrets his decision to join the Tribe, sticking around just long enough to learn a few more crazy ninja skills. Unluckily, this poor kid has a triple helping of destiny, so he's still got to restore the Otori clan and save the Hidden (or do something for the Hidden, it's not quite clear). Meanwhile, Kaede picks up some character development as she works to hold onto her father's lands and claim the much large domain she inherited from her aunt. (confused yet? yeah, I don't know if it's a good idea to review individual books that fall in the middle of a series)
Recommended for: Fantasy fans and anime fans, but only if you've read the first two books, don't start here.
Parental Worries: Less sex and violence than the first books, but there's still a fair amount of both.
Audiobook Comments: Read by Kevin Gray and Aiko Nakasone, who do a very good job.
Ramblings (Spoiler Threat: Low)
I feel like a bit of a hypocrite, because I complained so much about the plot twists in Across the Nightingale Floor, and now that we have a nice calm book that's basically all exposition, I'm criticizing that too. In fact it was so calm, and things were going so well for the heroes, that when I looked down to discover there were only 30 minutes left in the book, my automatic thought was 'Okay, just enough time for the shit to hit the fan and leave us hanging for the next book'. But no, we sailed smoothly through the last 30 minutes. We're promised shit hitting the fan as soon as the next story starts, but that's in the future. (and I am learning not to trust Hearn's promises, anyway) The ending of this book is actually quite happy ^_^ I approve.
All in all though, I've got to admit that I'm not really reading these books for their plot or their characters. Both are interesting and likeable, but frustrating and occasionally annoying at the same time. I'm really reading these books for the beautiful setting that Hearn paints, the oriental aesthetic that pervades the entire series. For authenticity, I'd be better off reading the ancient Chinese and Japanese classics, but the Tales of the Otori are much more accessible (in several different senses of the word) and it's not like I'm cultured enough to know the difference ^_~
Labels: fantasy, Tales of the Otori
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3 comments:
LOVE the new layout :-).
I've had a hard time finding books to read lately and have been rereading some of my favorites--I was thinking of taking up a really sappy melodrama like Forever Amber or something :)
That's a good idea though, review a classic piece of japanese lit and then do a compare and contrast with this one, it'll probably make you feel better about Hearn's writing style because you get to critique it compared to the style she's trying to emulate :D And also I'm interested in what you have to say about it.
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