Reading notes: Twenty-Two Goblins, Reading A
I really enjoyed the first half of the stories/riddles told by the goblin to the king in Twenty-two Goblins, and I'm looking forward to reading the other half tomorrow! In terms of what I took out of this reading to inspire my own writing, I was really enamored of the language used in these stories.
In the introduction, when Ryder is describing the king and his resolve to fulfill his promise to the monk, he says, "A brave man's heart is harder than a diamond, and nothing makes it tremble." The clear, concise stated moral reminded me of a classic fable, and I love how it illustrated the nobility and character of the king.
I found the language in The Three Lovers especially beautiful. Ryder describes the three suitors as staying "there all three of them day and night, feasting on the beauty of her face, like the birds that live on moonbeams." Once I got past the weirdness of the word choice of "feasting" (not zombies!), I really appreciated the metaphor comparing Coral with birds, which I associate with lightness, freedom, and gentle beauty, and this language allowed me to visualize her. Ryder later says she "was more beautiful than ever [after she was raised from the dead]. She looked as if she were made of gold." Again, this really helped me think of how beautiful she was. This story, like the introduction, had a pithy moral at the end: "Great-minded people do not waver until they have kept their promises, even at the cost of life."
The third story that had language I found particularly lovely was The Girl, Her Husband, and Her Brother. Ryder continues to use beautiful language to describe attractiveness, this time saying Lovely "robbed the moon of its beauty and White of his heart." I admit that I'm a bit of a sucker for metaphors that compare women with the moon, as I think the moon has a gentle, confident feminine energy. And speaking of confident feminine energy -- when Lovely prays to the goddess Gauri, she says, "O Goddess! One only deity of happiness and character! Partaker of the life of Shiva! Refuge of all women-folk! Destroyer of grief!" What a lovely way to be described!
I hope to emulate this type of language in my own storybook. I see it most often in tales and myths of old, so it would make sense to utilize it in my stories that will be narrated by the Muses of Greek myth.
In the introduction, when Ryder is describing the king and his resolve to fulfill his promise to the monk, he says, "A brave man's heart is harder than a diamond, and nothing makes it tremble." The clear, concise stated moral reminded me of a classic fable, and I love how it illustrated the nobility and character of the king.
I found the language in The Three Lovers especially beautiful. Ryder describes the three suitors as staying "there all three of them day and night, feasting on the beauty of her face, like the birds that live on moonbeams." Once I got past the weirdness of the word choice of "feasting" (not zombies!), I really appreciated the metaphor comparing Coral with birds, which I associate with lightness, freedom, and gentle beauty, and this language allowed me to visualize her. Ryder later says she "was more beautiful than ever [after she was raised from the dead]. She looked as if she were made of gold." Again, this really helped me think of how beautiful she was. This story, like the introduction, had a pithy moral at the end: "Great-minded people do not waver until they have kept their promises, even at the cost of life."
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| Gaudi stopping Lovely from dying by suicide after discovering the dead bodies of her husband and brother. Source: UnTextbook |
I hope to emulate this type of language in my own storybook. I see it most often in tales and myths of old, so it would make sense to utilize it in my stories that will be narrated by the Muses of Greek myth.
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