fierce believers afraid to fall
25 Aug 2009 08:49 pmThis is a review for a series I can't review.
The first book came out maybe two years ago, now? And the second book came out last fall, with the third arriving in stores this summer, I think it was. (And if anyone wanted to get me a signed copy of the third book, I might even admit in public that tomorrow's my birthday.) I've re-read the first book twice, and the second book about five times now, maybe six. And I just can't review them. I've tried several times, and I can't.
But the past few weeks while I've been working on a major application, one of my downtime points has been while running errands and listening to the iPod's latest randomness. Somewhere in there, I started thinking about songs that remind me of certain voices. Not stories, mind you, but the voices of the story, the narrative voice, even -- but also the theme, the sense of the story. So the lyrics don't always fit, but something in the music's cadence makes me think of the way a certain person writes. I've been bandying about these odd connections, and one song keeps popping up, and every time, it reminds me of this particular series.
This is the accompanied version, and it's the instrumental aspect that contains a big reason (I suspect) as to why it's so strongly reminiscent for me. (If you want to really hear something amazing, the same song is done a capella, and what looks like rather off-the-cuff and informal, and it's amazing just how powerfully clear her voice is, even in what are probably less than perfect circumstances for singing. I honestly can't think of too many other singers, even among professionals, who could pull something like this out of their hats. Not the best quality -- recorded off a TV, I bet, yet it's still phenomenal.)
I will try to avoid anything really specific as a spoiler (if it comes to that), but on the grounds that getting there is really the heart of it all, there are spoilers in here, but in name only, not spirit. ( In which, thus introduced, I proceed to turn the literary and philosophical meanderings onto an unsuspecting author. )
The first book came out maybe two years ago, now? And the second book came out last fall, with the third arriving in stores this summer, I think it was. (And if anyone wanted to get me a signed copy of the third book, I might even admit in public that tomorrow's my birthday.) I've re-read the first book twice, and the second book about five times now, maybe six. And I just can't review them. I've tried several times, and I can't.
But the past few weeks while I've been working on a major application, one of my downtime points has been while running errands and listening to the iPod's latest randomness. Somewhere in there, I started thinking about songs that remind me of certain voices. Not stories, mind you, but the voices of the story, the narrative voice, even -- but also the theme, the sense of the story. So the lyrics don't always fit, but something in the music's cadence makes me think of the way a certain person writes. I've been bandying about these odd connections, and one song keeps popping up, and every time, it reminds me of this particular series.
This is the accompanied version, and it's the instrumental aspect that contains a big reason (I suspect) as to why it's so strongly reminiscent for me. (If you want to really hear something amazing, the same song is done a capella, and what looks like rather off-the-cuff and informal, and it's amazing just how powerfully clear her voice is, even in what are probably less than perfect circumstances for singing. I honestly can't think of too many other singers, even among professionals, who could pull something like this out of their hats. Not the best quality -- recorded off a TV, I bet, yet it's still phenomenal.)
I will try to avoid anything really specific as a spoiler (if it comes to that), but on the grounds that getting there is really the heart of it all, there are spoilers in here, but in name only, not spirit. ( In which, thus introduced, I proceed to turn the literary and philosophical meanderings onto an unsuspecting author. )