vivdunstan

Just finished Stardust, a reread for me, and upgraded my rating from 4 to 5 stars. A very quick fun read, with gorgeous fairytale elements. I'm going to write some spoilers about this and the film version, so will put them in spoiler space. I'd forgotten how melancholy it often is, especially the ending. It's a far more subdued ending than in the film, including what happens to the witch queen. But it feels right. The whole novel had what felt like a strong classic ring structure, the sort of thing you see in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, but isn't usually so evident in modern stories. It's like when you introduce a series of ideas, say A B C D, then in return wrap them up D C B A. In this case the physical journey away from and back to the wall gave a spatial element to this structure. But it was also echoed in the stories of Una, and the witch queen and more. Really classical lyrical storytelling, but done in a way that isn't in your face. On the downside I could honestly have read more - it felt a little bit short, especially how it wrapped up. But I suppose that's a measure of how compelling it was. I wanted more.

This is the book this month for the book club run by a YouTuber I support on Patreon. I am intrigued to see what others make of it, especially those totally new to the story, who haven't read the book or seen the film before.