Kelly Shaw (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} kellyshaw) wrote,@ 2007-03-25 15:49:00 |
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Illyria
For over a week, I've intended to comment on Elizabeth Hand's heartbreaking, 120-page short novel Illyria, but have been sidetracked by NCAA tournament games -- yes, I'm an unrepentant addict for March Madness -- and Michael Bishop's shamefully out-of-print 1994 novel Brittle Innings (a nostalgic novel about Frankenstein, the racist South, World War II, and minor-league baseball; I urge you to hunt this one down!). In the past, I've enjoyed some of Hand's short fiction (particularly, the masterful "The Least Trumps") and the flawed but elegant 2003 novel Mortal Love. But nothing of hers I previously read prepared me for Illyria, a sublime elegy for the 1970s, taboo love, loss of innocence, and the transcendent power of art. I've read a lot of great books in recent years, but few of them feel as personal, natural, and necessary as Illyria -- as though the words poured onto the page from Hand's heart and soul. While not an overt work of fantasy, it exudes an atmosphere of wonder and illuminates the magic in the corners of everyday life. Illyria, published by PS Publishing earlier this year, stands not only as one of my favorite works of the year, but of the decade.
For over a week, I've intended to comment on Elizabeth Hand's heartbreaking, 120-page short novel Illyria, but have been sidetracked by NCAA tournament games -- yes, I'm an unrepentant addict for March Madness -- and Michael Bishop's shamefully out-of-print 1994 novel Brittle Innings (a nostalgic novel about Frankenstein, the racist South, World War II, and minor-league baseball; I urge you to hunt this one down!). In the past, I've enjoyed some of Hand's short fiction (particularly, the masterful "The Least Trumps") and the flawed but elegant 2003 novel Mortal Love. But nothing of hers I previously read prepared me for Illyria, a sublime elegy for the 1970s, taboo love, loss of innocence, and the transcendent power of art. I've read a lot of great books in recent years, but few of them feel as personal, natural, and necessary as Illyria -- as though the words poured onto the page from Hand's heart and soul. While not an overt work of fantasy, it exudes an atmosphere of wonder and illuminates the magic in the corners of everyday life. Illyria, published by PS Publishing earlier this year, stands not only as one of my favorite works of the year, but of the decade.
