"The knife of the wind - the mistral - ripped down the Rhone valley...making each olive or cypress tree, magpie, vineyard, lavender bush, aqueduct in the distance stand against the wind-scoured sky as if it were the first, the perfect, example in the world of what it was."
Although Guy Gavriel Kay masters his art - an intriguing blend of sci-fi and literature - this story, although historical, fantastical, exciting and character-driven, does not stand as his perfect example. The obvious references to his magnum opus, the Finovar Tapestry, underscore the depth and maturity that Ysabel lacks in comparison, largely due to the narrative voice of Ned.
Having a teen-aged narrator allows for some interesting exploration. Ned's experiences of sexual tension in his relationships with Kate, the nerdy girl he meets in the cathedral, and Melanie, his photographer-dad’s super-organized assistant, provide good character development and allow the reader to empathize with the excitement and awkwardness that brings. When Melanie is teasing him by offering to tie his shoelaces for him, she says, “You should be so lucky as to have me kneel before you.” Ned flushes, and later thinks, “That had actually been a really sexy line, what she’d said.” Immature sexual tension runs through the novel, cropping up in random spots, just as it might in real life.
However, the youth and naivete of the narrator sometimes paint the world in broad brush strokes, which a more mature narrator, such as Kay employs in the Fionavar Tapestry or The Lions of Al-Rassan, might have nuanced a bit more. After a stand-off between Ned and Cadell, Ned thinks, “A week ago... [I was] worrying about [my] frog dissection in biology and a class party at Gail Ridpath’s house and the hockey playoffs....What did you say to any of this, anyway?” Granted, he is a young person in the midst of a very bewildering situation, and he does mature a bit by the end of the story. However, being inside the head of a confused teenager isn’t the most enlightening or enjoyable way to experience an ancient love story.
References to the Fionavar Tapestry abound, in the recurrence of key characters (no spoilers!) as well as the triangular love affair theme. As in the Fionavar Tapestry, where Guinevere, Arthur and Lancelot live and die in cycles, playing out their drama time and time again, in Ysabel the same story occurs. This time Ysabel, Phelan and Cadell, locked in a pattern throughout history, play out their own story of passion and violence. In both cases the characters are eventually released from their regime, in the denouement following the pivotal battle (in the Fionavar Tapestry) or quest (in Ysabel). Kay’s fascination with the triangular figure of a woman eternally choosing between two men illustrates the complicated relationships that arise out of love and jealousy. In the final scene between the three lovers, Cadell says, “We have a different arc, we three,” including his rival, and partner in questing, Phelan, in his use of “we.” Although they are sworn enemies through their competition for Ysabel, there is also a sort of brotherly camaraderie, evident when Phelan lodges a knife in Cadell’s shoulder, then injures himself the same way so that all is fair.
The symbolism of dawn/dusk, another evocative theme in Ysabel, highlights the differences in historical contexts and lends a general edge of darkness to the tale. Kay occasionally steps back from the immediate narrative to paint the picture of a sunrise or sunset, and then interprets that image for us. On the last night of Ysabel, Ned looks down the mountain after sunset and sees headlights, thinks of the Riviera an hour away with bars and cafes and yachts. And then he remembers tales Phelan told of a ship sailing from Greece long ago, passing dark harbours and mountain ranges, visiting peoples of rituals and forest gods and goddesses. The sky “blood-red with sunset” used to mean something different for people without brightly-lit restaurants and homes, to people who were visited by spirits. And dawn, “exquisite, memorable, almost a taste,” once a relief from the domain of night, is now under the purview of alarm clocks and showers.
The Take Away: If I ever have the good fortune of visiting Provence, the terrain will become a palimpsest where the past shows through a little more, thanks to this book.
Page References from Penguin Canada’s 2007 paperback edition:
"knife of the wind" - 2
“you should be so lucky” – 84-5
“frog dissection” – 259
“different arc” – 485
knife in shoulder – 370
last night of Ysabel – 497-8
“blood-red” – 3
“dawn, exquisite, memorable” - 4
No comments:
Post a Comment