Clayr, reveal the end with your Sight.
Who wrote this book and when?
Garth Nix published it in 1995.
Has there been a film version?
No, not yet. If there is, I think Christina Ricci would do a good job as Sabriel…that’s all.
Who are the important characters?
Sabriel – the daughter of the Abhorsen, raised in Ancelstierre
Mogget – a strange Free Magic creature who is thousands of years old; he comes in the shape of a small white cat collared with a bell.
Touchstone – a young man who was imprisoned in a masthead for over 200 years
The Abhorsen – a calling and a bloodline which is responsible for banishing Dead things out of the Old Kingdom and beyond the Ninth Gate in death; in this case, it refers to Sabriel’s father, (whose real name is Terciel) and Sabriel at times
Kerrigor – one of the Great(est) Dead, an evil creature who used to be human that is intent on destroying everything
What’s it about?
Sabriel is the daughter of the Abhorsen – a man in the Old Kingdom north of Ancelstierre who is responsible for protecting the gates between life and death. Despite the fact that she was raised in Ancelstierre away from many of the influences of magic, she is called to the Old Kingdom to help her father who has been imprisoned by the evil Kerrigor – a Greater Dead and creature of Death and twisted Free Magic. Along the way, she travels with Mogget, another ancient Free Magic creature and she meets up with Touchstone, imprisoned for 200 years. She also must come to realize her place in the Abhorsen bloodline and shoulder the responsibility of who she really is while fighting legions of Dead creatures.
Why is this book a classic?
It’s Nix’s first foray into novel-dom and an excellent journey at that.
Do you recommend I read this book?
Oh yes. Right up there (but below, mind you) Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and C.S. Lewis’ fantasy trilogy.
Why did this book make your list?
Originally, this book was a random pick up encounter at my local library. I read “Shade’s Children” by Nix first, since then I was interested in dystopian societies and armageddon scenarios. And I loved that book so much I went in search of more books by this author. And I found the Old Kingdom series.
Has it won any awards?
It won the Aurealis Award for Excellence (which is an Australian Science Fiction award – Nix is from “Oz.” It was also an ALA Notable Book.
Favorite Quotes:
I might just be tempted to quote the entire book, but I’ll settle for one, deal?
“Sabriel digested this in silence, staring at the swirls of fish and sauce on her plate, silver scales and red tomato blurring into a pattern of swords and fire. The table blurred too, and the room beyond, and she felt herself reaching for the border with Death. But try as she might, she couldn’t cross it. She sensed it, but there was no way to cross, in either direction – Abhorsen’s House was too well protected. But she did feel something at the border. Inimical things lurked there, waiting for her to cross, but there was also the faintest thread of something familiar, like the scent of a woman’s perfume after she has left the room, or the waft of a particular pipe tobacco around a corner. Sabriel focussed on it and threw herself once more at the barrier that separated her from Death.” – p 73
Anything else?
There’s a page devoted specifically to the Old Kingdom series. It can be found here.
Plus…I like the British covers on these books more than the cheesy seventies looking ones. That’s all.
Personal thoughts:
I can’t tell you enough how good these books are. Nix is completely unpretentious in his presentation of this world, the separated Ancelstierre and the Old Kingdom. He leaves almost nothing unexplained (or at least without the promise of explanation), and I can guarantee you that he builds on things in the next books which you thought were completely covered. Sabriel as a character is unlike any character I can think of. She is part little girl and part warrior, slightly unsure and very courageous, just reckless enough to be interesting, and modern enough to resonate with people in our own reader’s world. And Nix throws her back and forth between three worlds with little to no effort. And he even manages to slip prophecy and a love story in right underneath your nose.
Thea reviews the Old Kingdom Series here.
Nana
June 28, 2006 — sarahintheskywithWho wrote this book and when?
Emile Zola is the author. It’s part of a much larger work by Zola, 20 volumes actually, which track the lives of a French extended family through the Second Empire. “Nana” is the ninth in the series and came out in 1880.
Has there been a film version?
The notable film director Jean Renoir made this story into a movie in 1926.
Who are the important characters?
Nana – a spunky prostitute and man-eater
Count Muffat – a married man hopelessly in love with Nana
Georges Hugon – a very young man in love with Nana
Steiner – a banker who wastes much of his money on Nana
Vandeuvres – a man who raises horses and who falls in love with Nana
Fauchery – a journalist who…you guessed it, falls in love with Nana
Fontan – an ugly actor
Louiset – Nana’s son
Satin – Nana’s closest friend and lesbian lover
Zoe – Nana’s faithful maid
What’s it about?
It is the story of the rise of Nana, a French prostitute during the late 1800’s. She debuts to the French aristocracy when she stars as Venus in a play presented in a tawdry theater. Although her acting skills and voice are terrible, she appears naked and a young man named Georges Hugon helps her capture the crowd and from then on, she is one of the most desireable women in Paris. She then grows to enamor and ruin nearly all of the rich men who are unfortunate enough to come across her path. She is a man-eater in the truest sense of the word, luxuriating in her body and in self love, she has affairs with both men and women. Her ability so waste money is astounding and she is a marvelous representation of Paris society directly before the fall of the Second Empire.
Why is this book a classic?
It’s best known for being the greatest example of Zola’s talent at expressing crowd scenes. In this novel, he is able to describe theaters, parties, midnight rondevues with miniscule detail and sweeping depictions tied neatly together.
Why did this book make your list?
I love the movie “The Life of Emile Zola” (and highly recommend it, obviously) and this was the novel they focused on the most in that film. Nearly all of Zola’s works caused a major scandal or uproar in the French government and upper society because of their brutal honesty about the realities of life, people’s personalities, and the government.
Do you recommend I read this book?
Yes, but only if you’ve read another Zola book which is shorter. I think you’ll need to be familiar with his style before diving into this book.
Has it won any awards?
No, it has not.
Favorite Quotes:
“One would have said that in front of the fireplace there was a communion of souls as in a church, the discreet, faint canticle of a little chapel.” – p61
“Wasn’t it a fact that, from the moment when two women found themselves together with their lovers, their first idea was to do each other out of them? It was a fixed rule of life, that.” – p 90
“What did remain, outside her periods of anger, was an ever-awake appetite for expenditure, a natural contempt for the man who paid, a constant caprice for squandering and wasting money; and she took pride in the ruin of her lovers.” – p 252
“It was the last wild release of a colossal gathering, one hundred thousand spectators with a fixed idea, burning with the same intensity for a gamble, following those animals whose gallop swept away millions. People pushed and crushed each other with closed fists and gaping mouths, everybody for himself, everybody whipping on his chosen horse with voice and gesture. And the roar of all that crowd of people, the cry of a wild beast which reappeared under the frock-coats, became more and more distinct: ‘There they are! … There they are! … There they are!’” – p 305
Anything else?
This is supposed to be Zola’s most “symbolically complex novel” according to wikipedia. And I agree, the comparisons you can draw between Nana and the French aristocracy of this time are marvelous.
Personal thoughts:
Zola is an author who can entrance you one moment and then slip in a line about the death of a major character which zings the support out from under you the next. He is descriptive and brutally honest about the ugliness of reality. He has no sympathy for his characters, sparing them nothing. He is equally willing to bless and to murder. And he is magnetic in his ability to storytell. All of his stories have some sort of political, social, philosophical, or historical statement to make through either outright declaration or the use of symbolism but you don’t even mind reading through pages of horrific characters (not due to the writing but to the character of the characters) because the story is so wonderfully told. And he has the magical talent of combining just enough light to the dark side of life so that you don’t feel sinful reading about it.