Endicott Mythic Fiction discussion

I finished reading this last weekend. I thought it was well-written and I liked the selkie theme. On the other hand, the incest was gross and I just couldn't empathize with the main character.

I finished this last night. I liked this book a lot. I found Clodagh to be a sympathetic character. Her choices, while not always wise, were understandable and seemed to arise from who she was as person. I loved the selkie theme and the little hints of mystery about her mother's origins.

I think my biggest problem was with the big reveal. I won't go into too much detail, in an attempt to avoid spoilers, but as a reader I dislike having major plot points hinge on hidden information. On one level, the story works because the story is told from Clodagh's perspective, and so we can't know more than she does, but I felt the constraints required in order to keep the hidden knowledge a secret from her created some plot weaknesses.

Still, I enjoyed the book and really appreciated the language and the glimpses of the lives of the travelers and other people in Ireland.

I liked this one as well. The character development was so well done. I was intrigued by Clodagh and her mother and sister. I liked how it was broken into short-ish bits. It kept me going and meshed so well with the mood of the book. I gave it 3 stars. It sucked me in pretty completely, but I felt like I did see the end coming at a point when she's at the convent discussing one of the characters. Also, while I found the story (particularly the mother's story and the mythology) to be haunting, I don't feel like this one will stay with me for a very long time. Still this is my favorite group read so far.

Finished this a few days ago... like I mentioned before, I borrowed this one in audiobook form. The woman had the perfect voice, light irish accent, a little dreamy. Went along with the theme and atmosphere of the story nicely, but I faded out of the story once or twice without realizing it. That's the only issue with audio-- you can't go back and reread as easily when you realize you missed something.

Either way, I enjoyed the story a lot and was all ears towards the end. I especially loved her transformation from student to tinker... I had a hard time relating to her future decisions though, as far as her relationship with her father. I suppose taboos make it a little hard to accept. I also thought that, given the incest theme, the book ended on a very peculiar note that made my stomach flop a little.

Also enjoyed the selkie theme. I almost wish she'd pushed that a little further, but I suppose it was very good as a mystery too.

I also wish she had pursued the selkie theme more. It's not a subject that is done often.

Rora, while reading I was trying to think of other books that touch on it, but couldn't come up with anything offhand. Have you read any?

Thanks for the suggestion, Baobhan, I'll look that one up.

Another selkie-type novel is Betsy James, Long Night Dance. Again, it's for young adults/children but a very good book nonetheless. Also
Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry, by Rosalie K Fry but good luck finding it. Amazon has a used copy for $275.00. It was made into the movie The Secret of Roan Inish.

Yes, I remember that movie... haven't seen it in a long time, but I know I enjoyed it a lot. This book brought it back a little. Didn't realize that it was based on a book itself.

I'll have to see if my libraries have any of those. Thanks!

Ok, I'm not gonna read any more comments here till I finish, but I wanted to say I'm pretty far into it now. So far, I'm finding it a bit drawn out and depressing though some of the imagery is quite nice. Haven't gotten to the part about incest but did read a bit about the selkie thing. Kinda hoping it goes towards the mythological more than the pathological soon.

Though this was well written, I found this book to be very dark, something I would have avoided given our current shorter daylight hours. Agreed, Kay and Rora, I also loved the selkie theme and regretted that there wasn't even more of that somehow. This book reminded me a lot of Hardy's "Tess of the D'Ubervilles". Same sort of tragic life set in a beautiful landscape.

I agree with Claire that the characters seemed to be very full. I could believe them for the most part. Much better than Mortal Love. The contrast of the interior life versus the wild natural life was quite good too.

The incest story I didn't completely believe because I would have thought her father would have pieced things together, but maybe not.

I liked how the author created a sort of still life with the baubles and the sealskin dress. I could picture them in my mind pretty well. They gave the story a lot of focus as well as the house descriptions. All in all, well written, but it did make me want to go out and get a breath of fresh air, bit stifling.

Thanks to Hilary and Baobhan for the selkie references. I hadn't heard of the film "The Secret of Roan Inish". I'll have to have a look for that.

Oh, forgot to say that in between reading this one I went to an exhibit of Isaac and Jozef Israels and I found a postcard that really suited the book as a bookmark. It is of Jozef's "Na de Storm" ("After the Storm")Here's a version of it: http://www.cultuurwijzer.nl/sites/cul...

Oddly enough this is a different version than the one I saw. The one I saw was simpler, with the woman sitting at the door and a wicker crib behind her with a sleeping babe. He must have done these two versions at the same time. It's a pity I can't find it, because the one I saw make me think of Clodaugh at the cabin but also the last scene with her son. If I find it in the meantime, I'll post again.

Oooh - I love the ideaof art to go along with the book! Gorgeous picture, Kim!

Glad you like it, Claire. I'll see if I can't do more of that in the future! At any rate, this one spoke to me right away since I was in the midst of this book.

this isn't a selkie legend movie but it might be of interest to people who enjoy the whole mythos type found in selkie legends. It is going to be released in the US so I hope it can be bought or at least shown in movie houses.

http://www.seachd.com/

Waterhouse is one of my favorites, Baobhan, great choice! He has many images linked to water. Bet we could come up with more if we looked. The book is rife with imagery.

That makes me think of Clodagh's mother on the shore. Love this new element to our discussions!

Returning to this thread to add a new selkie legend film:
Song of the Sea, an Irish animated film about a selkie mother and child by the maker of the wonderful The Secret of Kells.