Deathless

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Koschei the Deathless is to Russian folklore what devils or wicked witches are to European culture a menacing, evil figure the villain of countless stories which have been passed on through story and text for generations But Koschei has never before been seen through the eyes of Catherynne Valente, whose modernized and transformed take on the legend brings the action to modern times, spanning many of the great developments of Russian history in the twentieth century Deathless, however, is no dry, historical tome it lights up like fire as the young Marya Morevna transforms from a clever child of the revolution, to Koschei s beautiful bride, to his eventual undoing Along the way there are Stalinist house elves, magical quests, secrecy and bureaucracy, and games of lust and power All told, Deathless is a collision of magical history and actual history, of revolution and mythology, of love and death, which will bring Russian myth back to life in a stunning new incarnation. Free Download Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr I name Catherynne Valente an honorary Russian She has a Russian soul, somehow otherwise how could she have written this book This is a book about love And life Death War Loss Hope DespairLife is like thatI grew up with these characters in so many Russian folk tales, in so many Russian movies The story is always the same The evil Koschei the Deathless and Baba Yaga, the kidnapped Marya Morevna or Yelena, or Vasilisa , the brave Ivan who rescues her These stories have been I name Catherynne Valente an honorary Russian She has a Russian soul, somehow otherwise how could she have written this book This is a book about love And life Death War Loss Hope DespairLife is like thatI grew up with these characters in so many Russian folk tales, in so many Russian movies The story is always the same The evil Koschei the Deathless and Baba Yaga, the kidnapped Marya Morevna or Yelena, or Vasilisa , the brave Ivan who rescues her These stories have been told countless times But what if What if Koschei...Deathlessis a hauntingly beautiful novel that will stay with you forever Life is often full of beauty and joy But life can also be cruel and painful at times So it is only natural that the Czar of Life embodies both the wonderful and the terrible aspects of life As a young girl, Marya Morevna captured the attention of the Czar of Life, the entity she s heard referred to in hushed whispers as Koschei the Deathless And when Marya became a young woman, Koschei in turn captured her heart After Deathlessis a hauntingly beautiful novel that will stay with you forever Life is often full of beauty and joy But life can also be cruel and painful at times So it is only natural that the Czar of Life embodies both the wonderful and the terrible aspects of life As a young girl, Marya Morevna captured the attention of the Czar of Life, the entity she s heard referred to in hushed whispers as Koschei the Deathless And when Marya became a young woman, Koschei in turn captured her heart After being whisked away by Koschei to a land of enchantment and wonder, Marya grows to love the Czar of Life, as well as life itself...I AM SO PROUD OF ME FOR READING AN ADULT BOOK I m generally a disagreeable child when it comes to peering outside of YA I need my crayons and my cupcakes But Deathless was fantastically magical and intriguing and EVER SO RUSSIAN and I will call myself a fan.Note I listened to the audio THE RUSSIAN NAMES WERE BEAUTIFULLY SAID And the narrator was marvellous Although I do confess that if I hadn t have listened to the audio I think I would ve skimmed a lot So very glad I did it this way I AM SO PROUD OF ME FOR READING AN ADULT BOOK I m generally a disagreeable child ...Death, keep off, I am your enemy, and you will not deny meDeathless is one of those books that consumes you at every moment, where it is in every one of your thoughts, and once you read the last word on the last page you say to yourselfI think I just read the best book of my life I can see the crash from here The hangover to end all hangovers That is how powerful this book is Five stars will never be enough for this story Deathless is the retelling of the Russian SlavicDeath, keep off, I am your enemy, and you will not deny meDeathless is one of those books that consumes you at every moment, where it is in every one of your thoughts, and once you read the last word on the last page you say to yourselfI think I just read the best book o...Re Read 7 13 18 Valente is always worth re reading IMHO And other than making a few grand sweeping comments about birds and husbands, I have nothing to add to this marvelous piece of literature The land of the dead versus the land of life in Russia Mythology versus societal upheaval Love, love, love, and none of it innocent Just like Russia Original Review Breathtaking, quintessential Valente, making what might be a fairy tale into a gorgeously Russian love story between one unlucky Re Read 7 13 18 Valente is always worth re reading IMHO And other than making a few grand sweeping comments about birds and husbands, I have nothing to add to this marvelous piece of literature The land of the dead versus the land of life in Russia Mythology versus societal upheaval Love, love, love, and none of it innocent Just like Russia Original Review Breathtaking, quintessential Valente, making what might be a fairy tale into a gorgeously Russian love story between one unlucky girl stuck perpetually in the space of an hour who never got to marry the birds and the God of Life.Of course, it never ends well, because she s conscripted into his eternal battle with Viy, De...Her heart was so cold that she could hold ice in her mouth and it would never melt This is so hard to rate, for this was a stunning and breathtaking novel Full and rich of a poetic language that leaves you sitting and thinking and forgetting about everything that is around you It reads like a fairytale Actually, it is the retelling of an old Russian fairytale, but Valente worked a lot of her own magic to make this precious book such a gemstone.And by the way, this cover and the title...This book is beautifully written but try as I might, I probably couldn t tell you what it s about It feels like a series of stories, some eerie and some not, twisted up into Russian history where it s hard to tell wh...One of the strangest, hardest, most magical books I ve ever read.I could have sworn I d reviewed this book I could have sworn I d at least added it to my read shelf Either I m crazy or Goodreads ate the review, which is all entirely possible.Either way, I m sort of glad that I hadn t reviewed this book directly after I d read it, because the review would have been a very different one I d had some time to dwell on the writing, the story and Valente as a writer and have come to some conclusions that I didn t immediately see when I d first read the book I could have sworn I d reviewed this book I could have sworn I d at least added it to my read shelf Either I m crazy or Goodreads ate the review, which...I suppose I should open this review with a disclaimer this book has a 4.6 star average rating among my friends and a 4.16 rating overall, so clearly I m an outlier here Many of the critiques that I ve read have focused on cultural appropriation, which is an issue I can t speak to, so on that subject Katya s review and Liz s review.My problems with the book predominantly lie elsewhere, but there is one aspect about this book as an adaptation that I want to address before moving on In I suppose I should open this review with a disclaimer this book has a 4.6 star average rating among my friends and a 4.16 rating overall, so clearly I m an outlier here Many of the critiques that I ve read have focused on cultural appropriation, which is an issue I can t speak to, so on that subject Katya s review and Liz s review.My problems with the book predominantly lie elsewhere, but there is one aspect about this book as an ...

Deathless
  • English
  • 14 September 2018
  • Hardcover
  • 352 pages
  • 0765326302
  • Catherynne M. Valente
  • Deathless