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jvar's review
4.0
No going back, you just go on.
Definitely not Jonathan Livingston Seagull. But still an interesting perspective of how we humans must seem to creatures who observe us. I enjoyed the journey along with Dar Oakley, but I felt I needed just a little bit more from the narrator. I suppose no one can tell a story as well as Crow.
Definitely not Jonathan Livingston Seagull. But still an interesting perspective of how we humans must seem to creatures who observe us. I enjoyed the journey along with Dar Oakley, but I felt I needed just a little bit more from the narrator. I suppose no one can tell a story as well as Crow.
allisonjpmiller's review
5.0
I was so reluctant to finish this book that I didn't even feel seriously upset when research for a school paper kept me away from it for over a month. Its world is utterly unlike anything I've encountered in any medium; I knew that leaving it would be a loss, and now that I've finally turned the last page, I can confirm: I'm gutted. Like the nameless narrator of Ka's frame-story, I can't quite stomach the sight of Dar Oakley winging away from me, carrying the stories he never told me with him.
John Crowley writes the way I wish I could. You're all fired for never telling me he existed, much less that he's (apparently) been writing gorgeous, impressionistic prose like this in service of singular fictional dreamscapes since the 70s. Depart from me! I already bought [b:Little, Big|90619|Little, Big|John Crowley|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1435452849s/90619.jpg|518635] and will read it whenever I feel like I can fully digest another Crowley creation.
What's Ka about? A little bit of everything, but mostly: death and story. Using the vantage point of a crow to full effect, including all the superstitions and legends humans have attached to them over the centuries (along with a wonderfully deft touch in describing the everyday concerns and behaviors of real birds), Crowley examines the role that these two things have played in the rise of human civilization (called Ymr in the book) - particularly how the human understanding of death and story, both conscious and unconscious, has influenced worlds beyond People's (including Ka, the Crows' realm).
If we're just talking plot, though, Ka is about this: a Crow who travels into the human land of the dead and steals the secret to eternal life, then lives long enough to regret it.
Despite my gushing, please note that this isn't a book with universal appeal. It's unflinchingly brutal in parts and rife with the gory details of Crow-life; Dar Oakley has to learn our sense of the sacred, and even then he doesn't quite understand it. The narrative can also be slow and ponderous in keeping with its scope, taking readers from ancient Celtic tribal lands all the way to modern-day America. But, taken as a whole, it's an irreducible experience, full of wisdom and insight and keen truth that's difficult to hold in the mind all at once - which is why, of course, we so desperately need Story to organize it. (That's half the argument of the book.) Ka is one of those transformative reads that found me when I needed it most. I'm already carrying bits of it back with me into the real world.
John Crowley writes the way I wish I could. You're all fired for never telling me he existed, much less that he's (apparently) been writing gorgeous, impressionistic prose like this in service of singular fictional dreamscapes since the 70s. Depart from me! I already bought [b:Little, Big|90619|Little, Big|John Crowley|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1435452849s/90619.jpg|518635] and will read it whenever I feel like I can fully digest another Crowley creation.
What's Ka about? A little bit of everything, but mostly: death and story. Using the vantage point of a crow to full effect, including all the superstitions and legends humans have attached to them over the centuries (along with a wonderfully deft touch in describing the everyday concerns and behaviors of real birds), Crowley examines the role that these two things have played in the rise of human civilization (called Ymr in the book) - particularly how the human understanding of death and story, both conscious and unconscious, has influenced worlds beyond People's (including Ka, the Crows' realm).
If we're just talking plot, though, Ka is about this: a Crow who travels into the human land of the dead and steals the secret to eternal life, then lives long enough to regret it.
Despite my gushing, please note that this isn't a book with universal appeal. It's unflinchingly brutal in parts and rife with the gory details of Crow-life; Dar Oakley has to learn our sense of the sacred, and even then he doesn't quite understand it. The narrative can also be slow and ponderous in keeping with its scope, taking readers from ancient Celtic tribal lands all the way to modern-day America. But, taken as a whole, it's an irreducible experience, full of wisdom and insight and keen truth that's difficult to hold in the mind all at once - which is why, of course, we so desperately need Story to organize it. (That's half the argument of the book.) Ka is one of those transformative reads that found me when I needed it most. I'm already carrying bits of it back with me into the real world.
mattygroves's review
4.0
All of us come from the realm of Ka, the world of real things, where a crow is just a real crow, whose life is a brute-physical existence in an eternal present. And we all make our way, for better or worse, some distance into the realm of Ymr, the realm inhabited by categories and concepts, whose lives are stories. Once you're here, there's no going back; you can only go on.
The inhabitants of Ymr all have their origin in that real stuff of Ka (as we are reminded by Coyote's story), but ultimately what we in Ymr think of as real, is fantasy. What is the nature of the existence of the inhabitants of Ymr? If the stories stop being told, if these Most Precious Things are lost or stolen by ignorant Envy, what becomes of the People of Ymr?
If you have not read John Crowley before, it's difficult to tell you what to expect. John Crowley is one of those "realists of a larger reality" Ursula Le Guin speaks of. This is not a novel about defeating the Great Evil One. That Great Evil One of fantasy is a metaphor for the Ruin of Ymr, which is real and feels near. The great mountain at the end of the world is probably just a short drive from your house, and it seems everything we do to stay alive just brings Mount Doom a little closer.
If you have read John Crowley, you know to expect some of the best prose in or out of fantasy fiction. Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr is funny and beautiful and tragic and comforting.
The inhabitants of Ymr all have their origin in that real stuff of Ka (as we are reminded by Coyote's story), but ultimately what we in Ymr think of as real, is fantasy. What is the nature of the existence of the inhabitants of Ymr? If the stories stop being told, if these Most Precious Things are lost or stolen by ignorant Envy, what becomes of the People of Ymr?
If you have not read John Crowley before, it's difficult to tell you what to expect. John Crowley is one of those "realists of a larger reality" Ursula Le Guin speaks of. This is not a novel about defeating the Great Evil One. That Great Evil One of fantasy is a metaphor for the Ruin of Ymr, which is real and feels near. The great mountain at the end of the world is probably just a short drive from your house, and it seems everything we do to stay alive just brings Mount Doom a little closer.
If you have read John Crowley, you know to expect some of the best prose in or out of fantasy fiction. Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr is funny and beautiful and tragic and comforting.
tessabessa's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
krejdar's review
5.0
Despite what some reviews claim, this IS a true Animal Fantasy. It is not a prophetic type (think Fire Bringer), it is not a high-fantasy type (think Redwall), but it is an Animal Fantasy at its true form.
To those who say "nothing happens" - I'm afraid you quite painfully missed the entire point of the book, and I pity you. Death happens. Death constantly happens and we are shown it from numerous views, religions and perspectives. We are 'shown' the after life - we are painted pictures of hell and are whispered what heaven could be like.... Death is the plot of this book.
This is a journey of Death.
This book made me think far too much - and too often - about Death, but that was entirely the point.
This was a very clever, well done story and a wonderful addition to the very limited Animal Fantasy Genre. Dar Oakley was a perfectly sculpted Animal lead, and his perspective, confusion, actions and alternate way of thinking were incredibly well done and believable for a Crow character.
My only true 'complaint' with this book is I personally feel the final chapter was not necessarily important, though others may disagree. I personally think the book could have ended just as well with the Coyote story. But, again, that might just be my preference for a more Animal centered ending.
To those who say "nothing happens" - I'm afraid you quite painfully missed the entire point of the book, and I pity you. Death happens. Death constantly happens and we are shown it from numerous views, religions and perspectives. We are 'shown' the after life - we are painted pictures of hell and are whispered what heaven could be like.... Death is the plot of this book.
This is a journey of Death.
This book made me think far too much - and too often - about Death, but that was entirely the point.
This was a very clever, well done story and a wonderful addition to the very limited Animal Fantasy Genre. Dar Oakley was a perfectly sculpted Animal lead, and his perspective, confusion, actions and alternate way of thinking were incredibly well done and believable for a Crow character.
My only true 'complaint' with this book is I personally feel the final chapter was not necessarily important, though others may disagree. I personally think the book could have ended just as well with the Coyote story. But, again, that might just be my preference for a more Animal centered ending.
jefffrane's review
5.0
This book took a long time to read. I kept setting it down, not because I was bored or disinterested, but because I felt filled up with stories, perspectives, and language and needed to go off and do something besides reading. There's so much to absorb in this interconnected series of stories possibly offered up by a crow that has lived for thousands of years and died multiple times during that/those life/lives.
No one writes like John Crowley, that's a certainty.
No one writes like John Crowley, that's a certainty.
farinaling's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
jeffeberhard's review
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
This book was a real slog. I didn’t really enjoy it, but it was just good enough to make me want to finish it
selinadragonair's review
3.0
I really enjoyed the first 100 pages. To read a story solely from the POV of a crow was unique, it was like a biological character study and made me slow down. The prose was also very good.
The next 100 pages were difficult. The story did not progress much and when it did, everything had a "vague" feeling to it. I thought the crow was going to witness worlds history, instead he met some humans and accompanied them for some time. The crow learned words and concepts from the humans (like the realm of death) but its understanding was still quite limited.
At some point I lost interest in the story because of the vagueness.
The next 100 pages were difficult. The story did not progress much and when it did, everything had a "vague" feeling to it. I thought the crow was going to witness worlds history, instead he met some humans and accompanied them for some time. The crow learned words and concepts from the humans (like the realm of death) but its understanding was still quite limited.
At some point I lost interest in the story because of the vagueness.