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What I Just Finished Reading
The Half-Drowned King – Linnea Hartsuyker
The Half-Drowned King tells the story of the early years of Harald Fair-Hair, the quasi-mythical king who united Norway, as experienced by Ragnvald and Svanhild, siblings whose parents mismanage their minor kingdom out of existence.
Hartsuyker does a phenomenal job of bringing the social structures and culture of 9th century Norway to life and showing how they shape and limit her protagonists’ choices. That this is never anachronistic is the book’s great strength: having survived a battle, of course Ragnvald is going to fuck a thrall, even if he doesn’t really feel like it. The woman’s wishes are so immaterial they don’t even cross his mind...which conveys the brutality of the situation far more viscerally than an implausibly “woke” internal monologue from Ragnvald ever could.
But it’s Svanhild and the other female characters who are the real stars of the show; how they pursue their interests in the face of the restrictions in their path is much more compelling than the battles and oaths that are the focus of the men’s narratives. It’s a shame Hartsuyker chose Harald’s rise to frame her story, because it sometimes constrains her options for telling the women’s stories. That said, I have the sense she has more to tell in the sequel.
What I Am Currently Reading
Intermediate Korean – Andrew Sangpil Byon
This week I worked through the chapters on speech levels, sentence final endings, and particles.
The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman
Another comfort reread, and possibly the best thing Gaiman wrote since Stardust.
What I'm Reading Next
I acquired no new books this week. So far I’m sticking to the plan.
これで以上です。
The Half-Drowned King – Linnea Hartsuyker
The Half-Drowned King tells the story of the early years of Harald Fair-Hair, the quasi-mythical king who united Norway, as experienced by Ragnvald and Svanhild, siblings whose parents mismanage their minor kingdom out of existence.
Hartsuyker does a phenomenal job of bringing the social structures and culture of 9th century Norway to life and showing how they shape and limit her protagonists’ choices. That this is never anachronistic is the book’s great strength: having survived a battle, of course Ragnvald is going to fuck a thrall, even if he doesn’t really feel like it. The woman’s wishes are so immaterial they don’t even cross his mind...which conveys the brutality of the situation far more viscerally than an implausibly “woke” internal monologue from Ragnvald ever could.
But it’s Svanhild and the other female characters who are the real stars of the show; how they pursue their interests in the face of the restrictions in their path is much more compelling than the battles and oaths that are the focus of the men’s narratives. It’s a shame Hartsuyker chose Harald’s rise to frame her story, because it sometimes constrains her options for telling the women’s stories. That said, I have the sense she has more to tell in the sequel.
What I Am Currently Reading
Intermediate Korean – Andrew Sangpil Byon
This week I worked through the chapters on speech levels, sentence final endings, and particles.
The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman
Another comfort reread, and possibly the best thing Gaiman wrote since Stardust.
What I'm Reading Next
I acquired no new books this week. So far I’m sticking to the plan.
これで以上です。
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