Wow, this is beautifully written, even if I wasn't that into the book. (I think I had major problems with Tom -- I forgot he SOLD the ax. I didn't like the constant themes of adultery and virginity either. But mostly I think I just loathed Tom.) Did you see a connection to Tam Lin? I've seen people argue that Jan is pregnant, but that she lets Tom go (literally doesn't hold him), but I don't think the timeline works for a pregnancy. But a ballad theme does fit in with the repeating and variations and feeling of an old tale passed down that doesn't necessarily have a straightforward linear plot. Ballads also have a lot of different versions, like the different people and possible different endings in this book, and there isn't really a "right" fixed one.
I think I read an article that claimed the actual scientific concept of "redshift" has something to do in the novel re relativity and perception and objects moving closer together/further apart and being moved closer/further (good old Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift), only I am too dumb to figure it out.
If you liked this, you might also like two books by Russell Hoban -- Riddley Walker is the famous one, a post-apocalyptic book told in a futuristic slang that is a lot like Garner's simple but strange use of language (it's like dialect -- alienating at first but you can get into it), and one I love a lot more, Pilgermann, which is basically a time-tripping pilgrim soul traveling through the history of religion in which everything happens at once and there's some beautiful repeating imagery.
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Date: 2019-06-07 02:09 am (UTC)I think I read an article that claimed the actual scientific concept of "redshift" has something to do in the novel re relativity and perception and objects moving closer together/further apart and being moved closer/further (good old Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift), only I am too dumb to figure it out.
If you liked this, you might also like two books by Russell Hoban -- Riddley Walker is the famous one, a post-apocalyptic book told in a futuristic slang that is a lot like Garner's simple but strange use of language (it's like dialect -- alienating at first but you can get into it), and one I love a lot more, Pilgermann, which is basically a time-tripping pilgrim soul traveling through the history of religion in which everything happens at once and there's some beautiful repeating imagery.