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Bezig met laden... Hild: A Novel (The Hild Sequence) (origineel 2013; editie 2013)door Nicola Griffith (Auteur)
Informatie over het werkHild door Nicola Griffith (2013)
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Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Hild imagines the early life of an historical woman who seemed to defy the norms of her time. The resulting portrait of Hild, her family, her times is of an intelligent and informed person of good will, closely enough related to the ambitions and insecure king, Edwin, that any carelessness was immensely dangerous. She lives with secrets that must be kept and, in assuming the position as a seer, must give only answers that the King will use to his benefit. I liked the realistically portrayed social circle with limitations and joys so different from our own, and the very different value systems that are still comprehensible. The choice to use Byzantine for Roman jarred and the frequent descriptions of tablet weaving are not consistent with what I've learned, nor does the brief description of turning a gold ring into gold thread sound quite right. But these do represent the constant work in producing fabric and decorative fabric and self-conscious manipulative status displays through clothing. ( ) This is an engrossing book that drew me in deeply. The level of detail that Griffith weaves into the story is impressive, but never gets in the way of the narrative. Anyone who is interested in early medieval history will enjoy this novel. (It is only the fact that, in accordance with my rule, I have not yet re-read this book that prevents me giving it 5 stars.) [Audiobook note: the reader, Pearl Hewitt, does a fantastic job.] I love how much Griffith trusts her readers. I loved being catapulted into an ancient world I didn't understand, and learning about it as I went. I loved the characters - they all felt like complete humans and their interactions and behaviors were accordingly believable. Reading this was like eating a steak. I had to set it down often to let my brain catch up. But I was happy to be challenged in this way. I'm not giving full stars because I don't know how I feel about the ending and Hild's internal struggle of the last part of the book. As a young child growing up in what is now England in the 7th century, Hild has been told by her mother that she has purpose as the light of the world, the seer that gives advice to her uncle, King Edwin, after her father, Hereric, is poisoned in exile. Navigating the court is no small feat, but Hild has powers of observation that she uses to influence her uncle and survive all the changes brought by the Christian religion being introduced to the country. This detailed, immersive historical fiction begins when Hild is seven, and as she grew into her own, made friends, and worked to observe and influence even as a young age, I started with a lot of interest even though I have very little knowledge of the place and time period. However, as Hild grew older, I had a harder and harder time following the thread of what was happening - this character here, this other one there, this current threat to Edwin, or that one. I was less interested in her growing romantic attachments, and it became less of a clear plot and more of a list of political machinations of various small kings trying to consolidate power.
Hild is a pulse-pounding page-turner. It is a rich and inspired work of fiction. It is a book that fills both the urge to be taken away and the urge to be brought closer, to be called, as the jackdaws call, both outward and home. Hild is a book as loving as it is fierce, brilliant and accomplished. To read it felt like a privilege and a gift. In short, Griffith triumphs with this intelligent, beautifully written, and meticulously researched novel. Griffith goes boldly into the territory, lingering over landscape, wallowing in language, indulging the senses, mixing historical fact with feminist fiction in a sweeping panorama of peasants working, women weaving, children at play, and soldiers in battle: the Dark Ages transformed into a fantasy world of skirt and sword. Onderdeel van de reeks(en)PrijzenOnderscheidingenErelijsten
A brilliant, lush, sweeping historical novel about the rise of the most powerful woman of the Middle Ages: Hild In seventh-century Britain, small kingdoms are merging, frequently and violently. A new religion is coming ashore; the old gods are struggling, their priests worrying. Hild is the king's youngest niece, and she has a glimmering mind and a natural, noble authority. She will become a fascinating woman and one of the pivotal figures of the Middle Ages: Saint Hilda of Whitby. But now she has only the powerful curiosity of a bright child, a will of adamant, and a way of seeing the world--of studying nature, of matching cause with effect, of observing her surroundings closely and predicting what will happen next--that can seem uncanny, even supernatural, to those around her. Her uncle, Edwin of Northumbria, plots to become overking of the Angles, ruthlessly using every tool at his disposal: blood, bribery, belief. Hild establishes a place for herself at his side as the king's seer. And she is indispensable--unless she should ever lead the king astray. The stakes are life and death: for Hild, for her family, for her loved ones, and for the increasing numbers who seek the protection of the strange girl who can read the world and see the future. Hild is a young woman at the heart of the violence, subtlety, and mysticism of the early Middle Ages--all of it brilliantly and accurately evoked by Nicola Griffith's luminous prose. Working from what little historical record is extant, Griffith has brought a beautiful, brutal world to vivid, absorbing life. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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