Some years ago (I think I was in the 11th grade), I found a book in my favourite bookstore which bore a name and a cover suggesting that it hailed from the fantasy genre, one of my favourite genres, to be precise. It was “The Knight” by Gene Wolfe. I had never heard of the author before, mostly because of the fact that the bookstore system in my country is still developing. Books in English (the only language I read in willingly) are becoming more and more every year, and we are on the right track. Anyway, I got this book while I was basically a huge fan of fantasy literature. I still am, but my tastes have evolved in terms of range, quality, detail and genre. But this book, The Knight is special to me because it is one of the two books I could not finish when I began and it took me 2 years to pick it up again and re-read it. It was a great experience and I’ll explain why.
The main idea of this story isn’t that much. Meaning, if I were to see this book in a library for the first time, I don’t think I would buy it because the starting point is more or less lacking in originality. The story begins with a teenage boy from America (already my interest in waning) who suddenly enters the magical world of Mythgarthr, which is a realm set in the middle of seven other worlds one above the other. There, he is given an entirely new persona due to a new brother, a shape-shifting dog as a pet and an Aelf (elf) Queen lover (sexy) who also happens to be quite the minx and who turns him into a grown man of epic proportions and a hero. Okay, so I admit, this tends to get your attention, and it did back then so I bought the book. I immediately bought the sequel and the completion of the story, even before I finished reading it. I am probably gonna start on it tomorrow.
Okay, so this teenager gets the name Able of the High Heart and he strives to become a knight, although in the beginning he has nothing and his friends aren’t exactly what you’d consider “normal”. In the beginning, he lives his life in the forest with a man who thinks him his brother, and then everything changes when he meets a knight. After the encounter of Disiri, the Aelf Queen, he is transformed and everything most definitely changes. Starting from then, there are numerous adventures, some random, but none without a purpose. His main quest is to find a fabled sword promised to him by Disiri. He is so in love with her, almost to the point of obsession that he refuses to use another sword ever, making due with a mace instead. In the end, in the last chapter of the book, he finds the damned sword and that was one of my favourite chapters. It was magnificent and beautiful, and unexpected precisely due to the random course of events. Able may be strong, but he is not at all wise or calculated. He is easily distracted from the path, mostly because he tries to help so many people. I sometimes can’t stop feeling sorry for him, but ah well.
The best thing about this book, however, is not the story. The story is okay, I guess, maybe it should have had a little more structure, because the back and forth in time and space is sometimes confusing. But no, the best part of this epic is the writing style. Now, I am more of a Tolkien follower. I worship him and his work and I think that is the right course for fantasy literature. “The Knight” is nowhere near that style, but the critics who have picked on this have got it all wrong. It’s not supposed to be like that, it has its own signature and style. I have found myself surprised many times during the reading of this book, because the chapters are relatively short and the description is not at all over-whelming, it’s concise and to the point. In my head, I prefer loooong, details descriptions, with plenty of metaphors and sophisticated language. None of that, or very little of it here. But after reading a short descriptive passage, written in a basically informal register, I found myself visualizing a lot of the world surrounding the characters. Weird. Wolfe basically lets you envision a large part of the world according to your desires and preferences. It is a very free style, in my opinion, and it’s quite refreshing.
The character himself is not something you would expect in a fantasy book either. You would expect a perfectly invincible knight who commands respect from one glance. Well, I don’t know if he will reach that status in the second book, but in the first one, he is far from it. He is clumsy, immature, sometimes a bully, other times a gallant gentleman, very humble yet somehow assertive and annoyingly so, utterly in love with a woman who is mysterious and elusive and who basically ignores him and only torments him at her own will (this I liked so much), affectionate towards his friends but also distant from them in numerous situations. He is freaking weird, and confusing to say the least. But this makes him so much more believable and so much less of a cliche. I mean, just think about it. Boy turns to man in an instant, not to mention after being taken by creatures who shouldn’t even exist, and thrown into a world that resembles modern-day America but is actually closer to a depiction of medieval Europe. WTF? He is not supposed to be perfect, he is supposed to think, act and talk like an on and off comatose patient. Which he does, and I believe I would be even more screwed up if I were him. He obsessively chooses his quests and his friends out of a despair to not be alone, and to have some kind of a purpose. Which again, is normal, considering the circumstances.
This is a great story about growing up, about making choices and accepting rough, weird situations that life thrusts upon you. It carries many moral messages and romantic suggestions, as well as naturalistic images and horrifying details. My favourite aspect was the way he created the elves as elemental creatures with a highly perverse nature and personality. I, of course, prefer the elves of the Tolkien old-school lore, because, duh, there are 1000 reasons for this. But these elves are so kinky, so wrong in many ways, my bad side simply embraces them. Disiri may be a queen, but she is also cruel and cold, mixed with burning hot and tempting when she wants to. She is a freaking bitch and Able is obsessed with her and I like that. It’s such a wonderful metaphor. He may be a big, strong man, but deep down, he is still in love with a woman who is superior in rank and abilities, but who stole his heart and mind. She was the one who marked his sudden passage into manhood and the rest of his life is lived, more or less, for her sake. I loved that and I seriously want to read more about Disiri.
I read a really bad review about this book and I must say I DO NOT AGREE. Duh, when do I ever? The author attacked the language, saying that Wolfe has lowered his writing style, that it is too simple and pale in comparison to what he can do. It is true, the language is pretty simple, but upon a close reading (and re-reading of the first half), I noticed certain marks of a very well-thought narrative. It’s only simple when Able talks, because it’s supposed to be. Look, if an American 15 year old would come up to me and start a conversation about the meaning of life using advanced philosophical terms I would run away shrieking cos that could never happen! The language I prefer is much more sophisticated and deep, I admit, but this book was written like this for a reason, a well educated and firm reason, and there is a lot of harmony in the chaos of Able’s adventures and emotions. And besides, the book is designed as a letter to his brother back home. I mean, how the hell would you write a letter? I think you understand my point. And this comes from me, someone who has had multiple mind orgasms while reading “My Name Is Red” by Orhan Pamuk. That is a wonderful example of sophisticated, brilliant and difficult writing. But it is also an entirely different genre, so don’t compare, unless you are someone who frequently compares birds to buses. I’m just saying…
In conclusion, I recommend this book to all lovers of fantasy. If you love the old-school gods of fantasy, this will be a different side of everything. Also, the numerous references to Norse and Greek mythology are thoroughly enjoyable, not to mention the plethora of elements from knight lore. This is a really, really great book, and I am so glad it had a catchy cover (yes, I look at the cover and at the page count and at the font size before I decide to buy a book that sounds good from the blurb in the back). Enjoy and wish me a sufficient amount of time, cos I really wanna read the next one. Catch you around…
