Book Buddies - Enchantment by Orson Scott Card

I dunno about you guys, but sometimes I go into a reading slump.

Don't get me wrong. I love reading. I mean, until very recently I was an English major and was totally set on becoming an editor.

But sometimes, you just get restless. Or at least I do. And I know my mom does, too. We go through phases where we kind of switch what we're doing - we'll binge read for a few months, then binge watch some TV shows, then binge watch some movies, and so on and so forth. (My binging has increased dramatically since I caved to the power of Netflix.)

To get to the point, I was in a reading slump for the first half of this year! 

Usually it's a month or two max, so this was kind of surprising. I understood that I didn't really want to read during the work season (I'd just be putting down the book every other minute anyway, so there would be no point in getting absorbed), but afterward? Hmmmm.

So I decided to push myself out of the slump. By force. No little nudges or baby steps here. Sink or swim!

My first book that I chose to get out of the slump was 'Enchantment' by Orson Scott Card.

I've never read any of his stuff before this, but I knew of him by reputation. Not only did he write the incredibly popular 'Ender's Games' series, but he's also known for being a shitty person. I could go on and on about his hatred towards others, but here's a nifty link that will lead you to a few of his... negative opinions. In fact, his bigotry has led many people to completely boycott his work (ex: when 'Ender's Game' recently came out as a movie, people were holding protests, such as the LGBT group Geeks Out - read more about it here).

Before I published this review, I was originally going to write an entry about how shitty people can create beautiful art. And that it's okay to appreciate that art and not the artist. However, I found a lovely article on the New York Times Opinion Page, so feel free to read this too, as it's very well written and eloquently explains this phenomenon better than I could.

So dear readers, feel free to boycott Orson Scott Card. I certainly understand the reasoning behind it. But don't feel bad if you don't. Don't feel bad if you read his books. A terrible person can create a beautiful thing, and one should not interfere with the other.

With that said, let's dive in to the actual review.

From the back of the book, here is the synopsis we've been given:

"The moment young Ivan stumbled upon a clearing in the dense Carpathian forest, his life was forever changed. Atop a pedestal encircled by fallen leaves, the beautiful princess Katerina lay as still as death - while a malevolent presence stirred in the hidden depths below.

Now, years later, Ivan is compelled to return. He finds the clearing just as he left it. This time he does not run..."

I like to think of this story as a "fairy tale for grown ups". (Sometimes I forget that I am now an adult, ugh. The melancholy of leaving childhood has been plaguing me, which is hilarious considering I'm only 24 years old. Such is life.) (Also, from this point on, I shall refer to Orson Scott Card as OSC.)

OSC hits upon the topic of religion multiple times within the story, so I highly recommend having some basic knowledge of Christian and Jewish religions. (But really, very basic.) I will teach you all, quickly, about mohels though, as this is discussed early on in the story and I honestly don't have many friends who are Jewish/have a Jewish background. (I always think of this as common knowledge, but maybe not everyone has watched Seinfeld as much as I have.)

In the Jewish religion, as I'm sure you all know, the men are circumcised. However, it's not a simple medical procedure. Oh no. For some strange reason, we seem to enjoy glorifying or reveling in our pain or the pain of others. We always have to make it an event, heh. 

When the boy is circumcised, a mohel is brought in. A mohel is the one who performs the bris/brit milah (removal of the foreskin). Afterwards, everyone eats and parties over the fact that they just scarred an eight day old baby. I feel like that's really the only thing in the book I'd need to explain to some people, but if you read this and have any other questions feel free to email me/comment here and I shall edit this entry to include more information!

But, I will admit... as someone who classifies herself as an Atheist Jew (like Woody Allen in that regard), I was a bit turned off by the amount of religious talk in this work. Here I was expecting a fluid fantasy story, and I felt like I was listening to a bunch of cantankerous college professors. It just seemed to drag at times due to the dry nature and lack of compromise by any of the characters.

Speaking of, I had a hard time dealing with the characters as well. I liked them well enough on their own (when Ivan was alone he was okay, when Serge was alone he was okay, etc.) but when brought together I wanted to slap them all. None of them seemed to get along at all and their bitterness towards each other drove me up the damn wall.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

I hated Katerina. I mean hated her. And I hated her relationship with Ivan. I found them tiresome and their romantic relationship was unbelievable. I mean they're obviously not going to get along at first due to culture shock, but I figured they'd both be intelligent enough to listen to each other. (But maybe I'm giving people in general a bit of a stretch there?)

My favourite thing about this story was the incorporation of Russian fairy tales. Specifically, I loved Baba Yaga and her spells. (The tricksy little wasp was lovely.) I do not come from a stereotypical Russian family (they had all passed away before I could have any understanding and such of Slavic culture), but even I grew up with stories of Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga still sends shivers down my spine. But she's my favourite little imaginary beastie. She's terrifying! And this book does a lovely job of portraying her.

Overall I'm glad I read this, but I would probably not read it again. It was just too slow at times and it read like a debate between elderly folk who won't acknowledge change. (I know I said to separate the art from the artist, but I will admit that this rings a bell heheh.)

I hope you enjoyed my review! I know it's a bit scattered, but I felt like throwing in some educational tidbits today! If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for articles feel free to comment here or send me an email!

Have a lovely day, kiddies!

xo, Kate