"La Serenissima" by Catherynne M. Valente

[keilexandra]

"La Serenissima" by Catherynne M. Valente is gorgeous. The plot meanders dreamily at first, but by the end it all makes perfect sense. Magic is woven throughout in the thread of words and I love the revised Church. I don't think I understand it but I admire and revel. Valente's short-form pieces seem to be working much better for me than her poetry or novel; I've read snippets of both and they fit together like made-in-China jigsaw pieces, unfortunately shaped the same and thus impossible to complete.

Comments

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

Did you try The Orphan's Tales from the beginning, or in pieces? It's good enough in pieces, but stunning if you start at one end and read to the other. Something about the frame story made the entire thing come together for me.

[keilexandra]

Straight from the beginning--and I think that's actually a detractor for me. I get into one story, and it switches to another.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

I can see that. I was really in the right mood for it when I read it.

[keilexandra]

I think I'm suffering from too-high expectations, too. I've heard so much, all good, about ORPHAN'S TALES.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

How far in did you make it? I think that the point where everything clicked for me was somewhere around... the first puzzle piece, I think. When it became clear that the same people and events show up in most of the stories. That kind of catalyzed the all-one-story model for me, rather than a series of nested short stories.

I'm not trying to bully you into reading it or anything. Just curious as to reading experiences.

[keilexandra]

I'm at the beginning of the Harpoon/Heron Tale.

And I will definitely finish reading the book. By the end of summer, at least, heh.