A review by lordenglishssbm
Kingdoms of Elfin by Sylvia Townsend Warner
3.0
This is a weird one.
Warner's idea of writing a series of short stories about the various fairy courts spread throughout historical Europe is fantastic. Her prose is similarly exceptional. I did detect a couple words that were out of place ("said feelingly," for instance), but these were only noticeable because she was batting 100 for each individual sentence. The way she twists the sentences back on each other, the confidence with which she deploys elegant descriptions, and the sheer control she has over her voice are all incredible. I liked the stories in the first half, which focus primarily on the culture and social mores within a few individual courts, while occasionally showing the effects of the fairy world interacting with the real world. I was fully on board, and I was looking forward to seeing Warner fully integrate her courts into European history, to watch the real world and the fantasy world collide.
The problem is that this never happened. The short stories are all just tone pieces. Tone pieces that are glimpses into a fictional universe that, yes, manage to feel genuinely magical, yes, achieve what they're trying to do. And under normal circumstances I can respect that. But this particular setup could have been so much more.
European history is a tapestry of countries that no longer exist. In the modern world, Prussia and the Holy Roman Empire are as real as the kingdoms in this book. The continent has seen hundreds of wars, revolutions and religious schisms, and has seen countries formed, conquered, reformed and Balkanized. I wanted to see Warner really deal with that. Show the perspectives of her characters on the Europe that actually exists, and watch as they come into contact with it, and how they influence and are influenced by that history. And I get that wasn't Warner's aim, but I guess my question is "why not?" Why have this idea and then just do it like this?
I understand that you're not supposed to judge books based on the thing you wish they'd aimed to be. If I'm being purely objective, it is very well-written and the stories are, for what they are, good. It's not the best example of what it's trying to do-Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter is better, and shorter-but it certainly stands head and shoulders above most other attempts at something similar. On an purely aesthetic level, I understand that it's one of the better fantasy books. But my actual takeaway is that I've never seen such a skillful execution of an idea so far beneath the actual premise of the work.
I respect Lord of the Rings more than I like it. I think what Tolkien was trying to do is remarkable, even if it can be a slog to read because some of the choices made in its construction are bad. This book is the opposite: I admire the skill that went into it, but I just can't respect it. It's quaint and narrowly interested where it could have been deep and broad. It's a rocket engine and all the raw power that entails attached to a radio flyer.
I think I hate this book.
As a final note: There is a particular slur for the Romani people that is repeated throughout the book. I don't like it, but for what it's worth, the actual Romani characters aren't portrayed poorly.
Warner's idea of writing a series of short stories about the various fairy courts spread throughout historical Europe is fantastic. Her prose is similarly exceptional. I did detect a couple words that were out of place ("said feelingly," for instance), but these were only noticeable because she was batting 100 for each individual sentence. The way she twists the sentences back on each other, the confidence with which she deploys elegant descriptions, and the sheer control she has over her voice are all incredible. I liked the stories in the first half, which focus primarily on the culture and social mores within a few individual courts, while occasionally showing the effects of the fairy world interacting with the real world. I was fully on board, and I was looking forward to seeing Warner fully integrate her courts into European history, to watch the real world and the fantasy world collide.
The problem is that this never happened. The short stories are all just tone pieces. Tone pieces that are glimpses into a fictional universe that, yes, manage to feel genuinely magical, yes, achieve what they're trying to do. And under normal circumstances I can respect that. But this particular setup could have been so much more.
European history is a tapestry of countries that no longer exist. In the modern world, Prussia and the Holy Roman Empire are as real as the kingdoms in this book. The continent has seen hundreds of wars, revolutions and religious schisms, and has seen countries formed, conquered, reformed and Balkanized. I wanted to see Warner really deal with that. Show the perspectives of her characters on the Europe that actually exists, and watch as they come into contact with it, and how they influence and are influenced by that history. And I get that wasn't Warner's aim, but I guess my question is "why not?" Why have this idea and then just do it like this?
I understand that you're not supposed to judge books based on the thing you wish they'd aimed to be. If I'm being purely objective, it is very well-written and the stories are, for what they are, good. It's not the best example of what it's trying to do-Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter is better, and shorter-but it certainly stands head and shoulders above most other attempts at something similar. On an purely aesthetic level, I understand that it's one of the better fantasy books. But my actual takeaway is that I've never seen such a skillful execution of an idea so far beneath the actual premise of the work.
I respect Lord of the Rings more than I like it. I think what Tolkien was trying to do is remarkable, even if it can be a slog to read because some of the choices made in its construction are bad. This book is the opposite: I admire the skill that went into it, but I just can't respect it. It's quaint and narrowly interested where it could have been deep and broad. It's a rocket engine and all the raw power that entails attached to a radio flyer.
I think I hate this book.
As a final note: There is a particular slur for the Romani people that is repeated throughout the book. I don't like it, but for what it's worth, the actual Romani characters aren't portrayed poorly.