“A heart may desire a thing powerfully indeed, but that heart’s desire might be what a person least needs, for her health, for her continuing happiness.” (p.356)
Written as if the Brothers Grimm met Hugh Hefner, Tender Morsels is a bizarre fantasy. At once alluring and repellent, I cannot decide if I like the book. But, it certainly was interesting.
Magically conjured moon-babbies intervene in death wishes, causing poor Liga to live in a heaven of her choosing rather than a ravine in which she thought to throw her baby then herself…boys become bears on Bear Day, running around in furred skins as if they were frat man: out to satiate every desire…Lady Annie tries to use her skills for good but learns that intervention is not necessarily the best solution to a problem.
I found lessons, though, within the story which are relevant to me:
- You can’t hide in a world of your making, unwilling to interact in the flawed one that is our own.
- You can’t overprotect your children, in trying to keep them safe and happy, for not only will they grow resentful, they will not develop their own lives.
Find other thoughts from Richard, Frances, Mee, Rhapsody In Books, Chris, Heather, and Emily.
What lovely lessons! 🙂
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The cover seems to be really apt for the kind of book it seems to be. I am not very sure that the book would appeal so much to me. From your review, it sounds a little bit too out there for me.I like how you have summarized what you took from the book at the end of your post
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When I first finished this & wrote my review I was of much the same opinion; that I wasn't sure if I liked it or not.After a bit of distance I know now that I did, and it really has stayed with me, so it must have been good 🙂
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"Written as if the Brothers Grimm met Hugh Hefner."Well, that is hilarious! Ultimately, this book just did not work for me. Despite the whimsical, atmospheric prose, I grew to believe that Lanagan could not decide whether to write a novel for adults or a novel for younger folks, and consequently, the work is rife with sexually inappropriate material for the young and lacking in the depth and real plunge into darkness that could have made it more palatable for adults.
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Frances, you nailed a lot of my feelings! I kept thinking, "And this is for Young Adults?!" Not any that I would recommend it to. Whereas, it could have gone deeper for "Regular" Adults. If there is such a thing.
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I can see where it would stay with you; some of the images would be impossible to forget. I also liked some of the language, words Lanagan made up to mimic what I would imagine to be in a medieval fantasy world. It also reminded me of Ken Follett's Pillars of The Earth in many ways.
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This sounds terrific and that cover is so awesome/
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If it hadn't been for the intrawebs telling me to keep at it, I don't think I would have made it past the first 50 pages. Parts of it were too Ye Olde Faerieye Tale for me, but I loved its heart and its frightening honesty.
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I'm intrigued! This sounds truly interesting and those are beautiful life lessons.
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I checked Tender Morsels out from my library and couldn't get into it at all. The lessons are lovely (thanks for sharing them!) but I don't think I'll try this one a second time.
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I kinda sit on the fence with this one, hence I tried to express the positive and negative points I got out of the book on my review. I didn't love it but I didn't dislike it either. It's interesting that previously the book was highly praised all around the blogosphere by one group. Now there's another group who don't like it much (which is good, because we can hear another side of opinions). Since I'm undecided, I got swayed by people's thoughts here and there. Talking about peer pressure. ps: Lovely lessons you pointed out there.
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I just finished Tender Morsels too, and I don't know whether I liked it or not either. I loved the beginning, and I loved Liga, but I didn't feel particularly close to any of the other characters and I didn't "get" the entire middle section of the book. Oh well.
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Well, this is one I won't even think about reading. But your life lessons stimulated all sort of thought, and brought to mind the refrain of my junior and senior high years: "Mom!!! I want to do it myself!"A bit of a looser grip on mom's part and I wouldn't have had to run so far away before I came back 😉
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So that bodes well for my son, right? Here I am 49, and still so much to learn…
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Despite not knowing if you liked it or not it seems you took some lovely lessons (love the alliteration) from it. I have snagged this from Frances so will be able to let my thoughts be known in due course!
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