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Cloven Hooves
Growing up unwanted and untamed in Alaska's wild country, Evelyn found refuge in the depths of the forest. Here she could be close to all that mattered to an intelligent young girl not inclined toward lace and frills. Here she could befriend a being she thought of only as Pan.
With womanhood came unexpected happiness: a husband, a son. She could put away her imaginary friends and those magic days in the wood. But now tragedy strikes, a tragedy that may cost her both husband and son. And Pan has returned.
Here is the deeply moving story of one's woman's coming to adulthood, a journey every woman will understand.
With womanhood came unexpected happiness: a husband, a son. She could put away her imaginary friends and those magic days in the wood. But now tragedy strikes, a tragedy that may cost her both husband and son. And Pan has returned.
Here is the deeply moving story of one's woman's coming to adulthood, a journey every woman will understand.
360 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1991
About the author
Megan Lindholm
68 books987 followersThe author also writes under the pseudonym Robin Hobb. Her real name is Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
March 19, 2020
A SHELVING CONUNDRUM!
Literary Shelf?
This is a story of a woman out of sorts with herself and with the world around her. The depth of characterization and the high quality of the writing are incredibly impressive. All of her fears, her pride, her self-loathing, her idiosyncrasies, her need to be alone and in nature, her inability to relate to other human beings let alone mainstream society... all there, on the page, and explored with subtlety and compassion by an author who understands. The novel is a character study of a self-wounding iconoclast and offers much to consider, in particular for those of us who are insular, introverted, and often disdainful of the company of normies. Beyond that character study, Cloven Hooves is about relationships, about marriage and the bargains and insecurities constantly made and hidden, about motherhood, about the fragility of self and how challenging it can be to achieve balance and well-being during times of change, challenge, and loss. It is also a portrait of loneliness and what it feels like to be an outsider. This is a sad and very real book.
Nature Shelf?
The glorious descriptive passages illustrate its Alaskan and Washington State settings with a painter's eye and a nature lover's heart. Lindholm's prose is dazzling - if you not only love nature, but love reading about nature. Otherwise, I fear you may be quite bored, quite often. Cloven Hooves is a novel that celebrates the natural world in all of its beautiful, dangerous, ever-changing aspects. This is a book that marvels at forest, stream, and mountain.
Mythology Shelf?
The faun or satyr exists throughout many mythologies, but it is in Greek mythology where it most likely found lasting fame, where its cloven hooves and curling horns and randy nature were celebrated. And feared. The god Pan is of course the root of the word "panic". This is a book about Pan.
Fantasy Shelf?
Megan Lindholm is best known as "Robin Hobb" - author of multiple award-winning and popular fantasy series. She is noted for her realistic perspective and the sadness at the heart of many of her stories. I have seen her series described as anti-epics. Cloven Hooves is about the relationship between a faun and a human. The faun's nature is completely described, including its sexuality and its life cycle, its special abilities that set it apart, that protect and endanger it. It is clear that this creature, this person, is no human off-shoot. As realistically as Pan is portrayed, Pan and his ilk do not exist in our world. This is a fantasy novel, after all.
Romance Shelf?
Evelyn and Pan have loved each other since they were young, roaming around in the forest behind her childhood home in Alaska. Time marches on, and Evelyn finds herself married with a child, and now in Washington State at the mercy of uncaring, high-handed relatives who do not know how to deal with an awkward, quirky person like Evelyn. The loneliness that is at the heart of her, a loneliness that had been briefly hidden away by marriage and motherhood, resurfaces. And so Pan returns to her, in the nick of time, their love rekindling. Their love moves forward, from innocence to maturity, from carefree runs through the woods to explicitly described carnality to a partnership needed to survive the elements, to a caring and responsible family unit, when baby Pan arrives. The relationship is incredibly moving. This is a book about love, its changing nature and its constancy.
Donation Shelf?
My God, Evelyn drove me up the fucking wall! I could not stand her. Rarely have I met a character who was so incessantly frustrating with her whining and passive-aggressiveness and her inability to stick up for herself. Her mulish stubbornness and complete disinterest in genuinely connecting with anyone besides her child made this an often unpleasant and, at times, unbearable experience. I literally yelled at the page multiple times and often wanted to tear the book in half, I was so frequently aggravated. Despite Cloven Hooves' many virtues, I would rather be punched in the face than spend time with Evelyn again. This is a book that will be placed on my work's donation shelf.
Literary Shelf?
This is a story of a woman out of sorts with herself and with the world around her. The depth of characterization and the high quality of the writing are incredibly impressive. All of her fears, her pride, her self-loathing, her idiosyncrasies, her need to be alone and in nature, her inability to relate to other human beings let alone mainstream society... all there, on the page, and explored with subtlety and compassion by an author who understands. The novel is a character study of a self-wounding iconoclast and offers much to consider, in particular for those of us who are insular, introverted, and often disdainful of the company of normies. Beyond that character study, Cloven Hooves is about relationships, about marriage and the bargains and insecurities constantly made and hidden, about motherhood, about the fragility of self and how challenging it can be to achieve balance and well-being during times of change, challenge, and loss. It is also a portrait of loneliness and what it feels like to be an outsider. This is a sad and very real book.
Nature Shelf?
The glorious descriptive passages illustrate its Alaskan and Washington State settings with a painter's eye and a nature lover's heart. Lindholm's prose is dazzling - if you not only love nature, but love reading about nature. Otherwise, I fear you may be quite bored, quite often. Cloven Hooves is a novel that celebrates the natural world in all of its beautiful, dangerous, ever-changing aspects. This is a book that marvels at forest, stream, and mountain.
Mythology Shelf?
The faun or satyr exists throughout many mythologies, but it is in Greek mythology where it most likely found lasting fame, where its cloven hooves and curling horns and randy nature were celebrated. And feared. The god Pan is of course the root of the word "panic". This is a book about Pan.
Fantasy Shelf?
Megan Lindholm is best known as "Robin Hobb" - author of multiple award-winning and popular fantasy series. She is noted for her realistic perspective and the sadness at the heart of many of her stories. I have seen her series described as anti-epics. Cloven Hooves is about the relationship between a faun and a human. The faun's nature is completely described, including its sexuality and its life cycle, its special abilities that set it apart, that protect and endanger it. It is clear that this creature, this person, is no human off-shoot. As realistically as Pan is portrayed, Pan and his ilk do not exist in our world. This is a fantasy novel, after all.
Romance Shelf?
Evelyn and Pan have loved each other since they were young, roaming around in the forest behind her childhood home in Alaska. Time marches on, and Evelyn finds herself married with a child, and now in Washington State at the mercy of uncaring, high-handed relatives who do not know how to deal with an awkward, quirky person like Evelyn. The loneliness that is at the heart of her, a loneliness that had been briefly hidden away by marriage and motherhood, resurfaces. And so Pan returns to her, in the nick of time, their love rekindling. Their love moves forward, from innocence to maturity, from carefree runs through the woods to explicitly described carnality to a partnership needed to survive the elements, to a caring and responsible family unit, when baby Pan arrives. The relationship is incredibly moving. This is a book about love, its changing nature and its constancy.
Donation Shelf?
My God, Evelyn drove me up the fucking wall! I could not stand her. Rarely have I met a character who was so incessantly frustrating with her whining and passive-aggressiveness and her inability to stick up for herself. Her mulish stubbornness and complete disinterest in genuinely connecting with anyone besides her child made this an often unpleasant and, at times, unbearable experience. I literally yelled at the page multiple times and often wanted to tear the book in half, I was so frequently aggravated. Despite Cloven Hooves' many virtues, I would rather be punched in the face than spend time with Evelyn again. This is a book that will be placed on my work's donation shelf.
June 23, 2020
Was going to give this an added star simply because I can see what the author was trying to do and up to a certain point I think she achieved it, but my own experience reading this book simply cannot let me give it anything above one without feeling like it'd be disingenous. From never fully being able to connect to the protagonist, to never quite buying any of the character dynamics in the book, to sentences that simply never aged well to sickening detailed descriptions of killing and maiming animals, this book was a whole journey of me wanting to DNF from about page 10 onwards, yet hoping it'd get better if only I persevered. Alas, it never really did.
In all fairness, I had such a bad time with this book that it does put me off from wanting to pick up any of the author's other works in spite of their praise.
In all fairness, I had such a bad time with this book that it does put me off from wanting to pick up any of the author's other works in spite of their praise.
December 2, 2024
I really struggled to connect with this one despite the great writing from Lindholm. My overall feeling about this book was much lower until the last 50 pages or so where I felt the book came together pretty well. But I likely would have DNF'd early had I not had trust in the author, as I wasn't enjoying reading a lot of this. Too many insufferable and frustrating characters (including the main character for most of the book) really sapped my enjoyment of this one. The descriptive scenes were the best part of the book, as it's obvious in many ways this was Lindholm's love letter to nature. 2.5/5
September 29, 2018
This is a difficult book for me to rate. As a big fan of 'Robin Hobb' novels, I've been looking forward to reading something with Megan Lindholm's name on it. 'Cloven Hooves' seemed thematically right down my alley, and in many ways it did not disappoint.
The author is a master at frustrating the reader by putting the protagonist through one injustice after another. Unlike works by Hobb, these injustices take place in the most mundane, domestic of settings. Be prepared to read a lot about cleaning houses and doing the shopping. The injustices build gradually higher until they're as unbearable for the reader as they are the protagonist. Escape becomes necessary.
Cloven Hooves is a complex book exploring the expectations put upon women. The protagonist, Evelyn, tries so hard to meet those expectations, but within her is the desire to be free. To be wild. This manifests in her love for the faun, which exists at the edges of her reality, urging her to leave the house and go into the forest.
Yet while Evelyn has a simmering strength of character below the surface, she is so often a passive protagonist, going where she is led and rarely standing up for herself in any way that goes beyond mere whining. Though her character journey from passive wife to free individual is part of the theme of the novel, she never escapes being reliant on men in her life.
The author is a master at frustrating the reader by putting the protagonist through one injustice after another. Unlike works by Hobb, these injustices take place in the most mundane, domestic of settings. Be prepared to read a lot about cleaning houses and doing the shopping. The injustices build gradually higher until they're as unbearable for the reader as they are the protagonist. Escape becomes necessary.
Cloven Hooves is a complex book exploring the expectations put upon women. The protagonist, Evelyn, tries so hard to meet those expectations, but within her is the desire to be free. To be wild. This manifests in her love for the faun, which exists at the edges of her reality, urging her to leave the house and go into the forest.
Yet while Evelyn has a simmering strength of character below the surface, she is so often a passive protagonist, going where she is led and rarely standing up for herself in any way that goes beyond mere whining. Though her character journey from passive wife to free individual is part of the theme of the novel, she never escapes being reliant on men in her life.
December 19, 2022
Compelling and beautiful, like so much from this pen, Cloven Hooves moves past what could have been a piece of satyr erotica into an emotional story of grief, acceptance, and freedom.
March 24, 2021
At the same time - June 2020 - as this re-issue of 'Le Dieu dans l'ombre', the English edition 'Cloven Hooves' was republished. The French title can be translated as 'The God in the Shadows'. It's a fantastic story about an introvert married woman, mother of Teddy, a five-year old boy. The little family, with husband Tom(my) as an equivalent of Brad Pitt (or so the descriptions told me), live in Fairbanks, Alaska. As it goes with Americans, they don't always live near their parents, but move to other states. So it happened with Evelyn, Tom, and Teddy.
Unfortunately, there's trouble at Tom's parents' farm: They need urgent help with the seasonal work and repairs, because that's what family's for, and Tom's brother-in-law is injured. So, they take the aeroplane and a bit of luggage for a short stay at Tom's parent's domain. Evelyn's not really keen on interrupting her job or even leaving the countryside in Alaska, but she doesn't have much of a choice.
The short stay will prove to be a clash of cultures and personalities. Tom's parents and sister are very much into fashion, trends, and lead a very extraverted life. Evelyn is the opposite of all that, prefers nature, poetry, ... In addition, Tom's parents are controlling and bigoting; Evelyn can 't do anything right, in their eyes. A clash of personalities, thus. Tom doesn't notice or refuses to go against his parents in defence of his wife. Evelyn has to undergo and stand up for herself, all by herself, also with regards to Teddy. But Tom loves her and she loves Tom. If you want a comparison: bonobos. Yes, especially because of that, the love-making.
The little family (Evelyn, Tom, Teddy) have to stay at the guest-house, not at the parents' house (heaven forbid!). While Tom has his hands full for weeks to come, Evelyn is soon bored as she has no feeling or connection with the life her in-laws lead. Luckily, there's a large forest nearby and when she ventures into this green zone, she's surprised to find a friend from her youth. Someone she got along with very well, but never expected to see again, as she thought he was a figment of her imagination. The name's Pan and he's a satyr, hence the hooves.
Alas, one day, as Tom takes his son to "work" - as a way to make the child enthusiastic about working at a farm -, and Evelyn has no choice but to make the best of another lonely day, dark clouds soon cover the sky. This will lead to her packing her things and going back home. On foot. Without much money. Not even by hitch-hiking or taking public transport, knowing full well she's thousands of kilometres from home. Luckily, there's Pan to the rescue and so a new chapter begins for Evelyn, one that will bring her home somehow (), but it will make her more determined to persevere and get her life back on track through hardship and a strong will.
Ultimately, all's well that ends well, but Evelyn's life has gone through serious changes, changes that will have had an impact on how she perceives life, her fellow human being, and how to follow a certain, personal course.
----------
The stories written by Megan Lindholm have a more realistic character, this one more than her other stories (see below). I'm not an avid fan of romance(-infused) stories, but this one is different. one aspect being the introvert-extravert conflict. Evelyn is not one to live in a modern society, where extraverts are in command. 'Le Dieu dans l'ombre' or 'Cloven Hooves' is a story of hardship, of being different from the masses, of finding (or trying to find) your place in the world, of coping with chances and changes, and longing for shelter, for solace when times get rough.
Evelyn's character was very realistic and at times very annoying, also because of her behaviour, her whining. But maybe that was the whole point of Mrs Lindholm, to describe how an - not all, of course - introvert behaves under certain circumstances and what Evelyn's purpose in this life was.
And as Mark Monday wrote: "The faun or satyr exists throughout many mythologies, but it is in Greek mythology where it most likely found lasting fame, where its cloven hooves and curling horns and randy nature were celebrated. And feared. The god Pan is of course the root of the word "panic". This is a book about Pan.
(...)
['Le Dieu dans l'ombre'] is about the relationship between a faun and a human. The faun's nature is completely described, including its sexuality and its life cycle, its special abilities that set it apart, that protect and endanger it. It is clear that this creature, this person, is no human off-shoot. As realistically as Pan is portrayed, Pan and his ilk do not exist in our world." This of course explains better why the French version was given thís title and not 'Sabots Fendus', for example.
----------
I was sent this book by Éditions ActuSF for review. Many thanks to them for the trust.
----------
Other works by Megan Lindholm that I've read:
* Alien Earth (my review)
* The Reindeer People (my review)
* Wolf's Brother (my review)
* Liavek (my review)
Unfortunately, there's trouble at Tom's parents' farm: They need urgent help with the seasonal work and repairs, because that's what family's for, and Tom's brother-in-law is injured. So, they take the aeroplane and a bit of luggage for a short stay at Tom's parent's domain. Evelyn's not really keen on interrupting her job or even leaving the countryside in Alaska, but she doesn't have much of a choice.
The short stay will prove to be a clash of cultures and personalities. Tom's parents and sister are very much into fashion, trends, and lead a very extraverted life. Evelyn is the opposite of all that, prefers nature, poetry, ... In addition, Tom's parents are controlling and bigoting; Evelyn can 't do anything right, in their eyes. A clash of personalities, thus. Tom doesn't notice or refuses to go against his parents in defence of his wife. Evelyn has to undergo and stand up for herself, all by herself, also with regards to Teddy. But Tom loves her and she loves Tom. If you want a comparison: bonobos. Yes, especially because of that, the love-making.
The little family (Evelyn, Tom, Teddy) have to stay at the guest-house, not at the parents' house (heaven forbid!). While Tom has his hands full for weeks to come, Evelyn is soon bored as she has no feeling or connection with the life her in-laws lead. Luckily, there's a large forest nearby and when she ventures into this green zone, she's surprised to find a friend from her youth. Someone she got along with very well, but never expected to see again, as she thought he was a figment of her imagination. The name's Pan and he's a satyr, hence the hooves.
Alas, one day, as Tom takes his son to "work" - as a way to make the child enthusiastic about working at a farm -, and Evelyn has no choice but to make the best of another lonely day, dark clouds soon cover the sky. This will lead to her packing her things and going back home. On foot. Without much money. Not even by hitch-hiking or taking public transport, knowing full well she's thousands of kilometres from home. Luckily, there's Pan to the rescue and so a new chapter begins for Evelyn, one that will bring her home somehow (), but it will make her more determined to persevere and get her life back on track through hardship and a strong will.
Ultimately, all's well that ends well, but Evelyn's life has gone through serious changes, changes that will have had an impact on how she perceives life, her fellow human being, and how to follow a certain, personal course.
----------
The stories written by Megan Lindholm have a more realistic character, this one more than her other stories (see below). I'm not an avid fan of romance(-infused) stories, but this one is different. one aspect being the introvert-extravert conflict. Evelyn is not one to live in a modern society, where extraverts are in command. 'Le Dieu dans l'ombre' or 'Cloven Hooves' is a story of hardship, of being different from the masses, of finding (or trying to find) your place in the world, of coping with chances and changes, and longing for shelter, for solace when times get rough.
Evelyn's character was very realistic and at times very annoying, also because of her behaviour, her whining. But maybe that was the whole point of Mrs Lindholm, to describe how an - not all, of course - introvert behaves under certain circumstances and what Evelyn's purpose in this life was.
And as Mark Monday wrote: "The faun or satyr exists throughout many mythologies, but it is in Greek mythology where it most likely found lasting fame, where its cloven hooves and curling horns and randy nature were celebrated. And feared. The god Pan is of course the root of the word "panic". This is a book about Pan.
(...)
['Le Dieu dans l'ombre'] is about the relationship between a faun and a human. The faun's nature is completely described, including its sexuality and its life cycle, its special abilities that set it apart, that protect and endanger it. It is clear that this creature, this person, is no human off-shoot. As realistically as Pan is portrayed, Pan and his ilk do not exist in our world." This of course explains better why the French version was given thís title and not 'Sabots Fendus', for example.
----------
I was sent this book by Éditions ActuSF for review. Many thanks to them for the trust.
----------
Other works by Megan Lindholm that I've read:
* Alien Earth (my review)
* The Reindeer People (my review)
* Wolf's Brother (my review)
* Liavek (my review)
May 23, 2012
people! if you have this book... hold onto it. It's out of print and very hard to find. - If you didn't like it, you can probably make a sale off of it.
That said - this is one of my favorite books. I'm hoping that it is still in my old room at my Father's house, because I sure would love to read it again.
That said - this is one of my favorite books. I'm hoping that it is still in my old room at my Father's house, because I sure would love to read it again.
June 9, 2010
Aspects of this book reminded me of both Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye and
Patricia McKillip's Stepping from the Shadows. All three books seem rather
autobiographical in some respects (although certainly not others).
In Cloven Hooves, a girl, growing up in wild Alaskan countryside,
independent but rather neglected, has as her playmate a faun, whom she
(rather unoriginally) calls Pan. When she gets older, she convinces
herself that this was an 'imaginary playmate' and struggles to 'fit in' to
society. She marries, and has a son. As the book opens, she's flying with
her family on an extended visit to her husband's family, where her husband
is needed to help out on the farm after his brother-in-law was injured.
However, once there, the family sets their claws in. She can't stand any
of them. They are trendily fashionable, have execrable taste, are bigoted
and controlling. But her husband seems to have no idea or no caring about
the depth of her misery, and sees no reason why they shouldn't stay - even
permanently. But then the faun comes back. He's been waiting for her...
and is absolutely, physically real. But it may take tragedy for events to
run their course.
Evelyn, the main character, is drawn amazingly well in this book. She
makes some decisions in her life that I certainly would not, but
everything she did was absolutely true to character. I believed that what
she did was how she would really behave at all times (as opposed to some
books, where you find yourself screaming 'just DTMFA!', etc.) ;-)
The style of storytelling here is frank and realistic. The themes are
rather similar to that of the other two Megan Lindholm books I've read so
far (The Reindeer People and Wolf's Brother): motherhood, wilderness
survival, and female independence and self-sufficiency, in the face of
controlling elements. (They really are quite different from the books she's published under the name Robin Hobb).
Patricia McKillip's Stepping from the Shadows. All three books seem rather
autobiographical in some respects (although certainly not others).
In Cloven Hooves, a girl, growing up in wild Alaskan countryside,
independent but rather neglected, has as her playmate a faun, whom she
(rather unoriginally) calls Pan. When she gets older, she convinces
herself that this was an 'imaginary playmate' and struggles to 'fit in' to
society. She marries, and has a son. As the book opens, she's flying with
her family on an extended visit to her husband's family, where her husband
is needed to help out on the farm after his brother-in-law was injured.
However, once there, the family sets their claws in. She can't stand any
of them. They are trendily fashionable, have execrable taste, are bigoted
and controlling. But her husband seems to have no idea or no caring about
the depth of her misery, and sees no reason why they shouldn't stay - even
permanently. But then the faun comes back. He's been waiting for her...
and is absolutely, physically real. But it may take tragedy for events to
run their course.
Evelyn, the main character, is drawn amazingly well in this book. She
makes some decisions in her life that I certainly would not, but
everything she did was absolutely true to character. I believed that what
she did was how she would really behave at all times (as opposed to some
books, where you find yourself screaming 'just DTMFA!', etc.) ;-)
The style of storytelling here is frank and realistic. The themes are
rather similar to that of the other two Megan Lindholm books I've read so
far (The Reindeer People and Wolf's Brother): motherhood, wilderness
survival, and female independence and self-sufficiency, in the face of
controlling elements. (They really are quite different from the books she's published under the name Robin Hobb).
September 2, 2023
What a beautiful book! Love, death, life, loss, joy and sorrow. Civilization and wilderness. Difficult things happen and hard choices are made. Wonderful things happen, and self-realization is made.
I don't know that you can put a genre label on this - and if you've read the Farseer books, this is not the same. Neither is it as bleak and ambiguous as The Wizard of Pigeons (which I also liked very much). It's not really magical, although it involves mythical creatures. It is realistic in it's description of humans and their selfishness, jealousy, dishonesty but also bravery and love, in it's description of dysfunctional and cruel families, so called civilized society with its silly and often superficial practices. It is also realistic in the description of nature and wilderness as both beautiful and harsh. I was always bothered by fantasy novels where people fled unprepared through forests and hills, easily surviving weeks of starvation and freezing temperatures equipped with two wrinkled apples, half a loaf of bread and city (castle?) clothes. Megan Lindholm is not that naive, with an upbringing in Alaska, and knowledge of hunting and fishing. Be prepared for some detail here! Neither are detailed sex scenes shied away from - I don't remember they are prevalent in her fantasy books.
The ending may be bittersweet, but it is exactly as it should be! I think Evelyn was content and so was this reader.
I don't know that you can put a genre label on this - and if you've read the Farseer books, this is not the same. Neither is it as bleak and ambiguous as The Wizard of Pigeons (which I also liked very much). It's not really magical, although it involves mythical creatures. It is realistic in it's description of humans and their selfishness, jealousy, dishonesty but also bravery and love, in it's description of dysfunctional and cruel families, so called civilized society with its silly and often superficial practices. It is also realistic in the description of nature and wilderness as both beautiful and harsh. I was always bothered by fantasy novels where people fled unprepared through forests and hills, easily surviving weeks of starvation and freezing temperatures equipped with two wrinkled apples, half a loaf of bread and city (castle?) clothes. Megan Lindholm is not that naive, with an upbringing in Alaska, and knowledge of hunting and fishing. Be prepared for some detail here! Neither are detailed sex scenes shied away from - I don't remember they are prevalent in her fantasy books.
The ending may be bittersweet, but it is exactly as it should be! I think Evelyn was content and so was this reader.
Read
October 26, 2012Absolutely loved this book. It's impossible fantasy grounded in reality, if that makes any sense. That is, it's not a romp in faerie, or a quest for the magic sword. It starts out very mundane, and then slides into the impossible. It has a powerful female character, which I like, too.
April 4, 2013
Couldn't even make it past 100 pages. The main character is whiny and annoying, highly focused on needing the men in her life to define her (despite trying to insist otherwise), and there is very little in the way of story progression even a third of the way through the book.
June 23, 2022
4,5 sterren - Nederlandse paperback
Evelyn is een eenzaam kind, en dat niet alleen, ze is graag alleen. Het liefst dwaalt ze in haar eentje door de sprookjesachtige wouden van Alaska. Ze verkiest de natuur boven het gezelschap van mensen. Maar Evelyn heeft een geheim dat ze angstvallig koestert: ze is bevriend met de Heer van het Woud, de geheimzinnige Pan.
Na eerst alle serie's van Robin Hobb, wat een pseudoniem is van Megan Lindholm, gelezen te hebben die me zeer goed bevielen ben ik de Windzangers gaan lezen.
En ik moet zeggen dat ik er eerst aan moest wennen, ze zijn anders geschreven dan de vorige boeken van Robin Hobb.
Ik heb het boek in een paar dagen uitgelezen. Bond het echt een strijd het neer te leggen.
Het begon als een gewone roman, gewoon over een 'normaal' gezin in deze tijd, niet wat we gewend zijn van deze Fantasy schrijfster. Maar natuurlijk komt op een bepaald punt in het boek de Fantasy om de hoek kijken!
Heel mooi geschreven verhaal weer, als je eenmaal begonnen bent moet je blijven lezen!
Moet je natuurlijk in je boekenkast hebben om de serie compleet te maken toch! Mooi verhaal!
Evelyn is een eenzaam kind, en dat niet alleen, ze is graag alleen. Het liefst dwaalt ze in haar eentje door de sprookjesachtige wouden van Alaska. Ze verkiest de natuur boven het gezelschap van mensen. Maar Evelyn heeft een geheim dat ze angstvallig koestert: ze is bevriend met de Heer van het Woud, de geheimzinnige Pan.
Na eerst alle serie's van Robin Hobb, wat een pseudoniem is van Megan Lindholm, gelezen te hebben die me zeer goed bevielen ben ik de Windzangers gaan lezen.
En ik moet zeggen dat ik er eerst aan moest wennen, ze zijn anders geschreven dan de vorige boeken van Robin Hobb.
Ik heb het boek in een paar dagen uitgelezen. Bond het echt een strijd het neer te leggen.
Het begon als een gewone roman, gewoon over een 'normaal' gezin in deze tijd, niet wat we gewend zijn van deze Fantasy schrijfster. Maar natuurlijk komt op een bepaald punt in het boek de Fantasy om de hoek kijken!
Heel mooi geschreven verhaal weer, als je eenmaal begonnen bent moet je blijven lezen!
Moet je natuurlijk in je boekenkast hebben om de serie compleet te maken toch! Mooi verhaal!
December 7, 2023
Mon avis sur la lecture de ce livre ne pourra pas ressembler à ce que je voudrais qu'il soit dans la mesure où je n'ai pas l'impression d'avoir lu un livre mais d'avoir accédé à une autre dimension. La seule chose dont je suis sûre par rapport à ce que je viens de vivre c'est que c'était puissant. Est-ce que c'était vraiment une lecture, je n'en suis pas sûre car ça ne ressemble pas à ce que je vis en tant que lectrice d'habitude en refermant l'objet. Je ne peux même pas vous conseiller de le lire, car c'est comme si je vous conseillais de vivre quelque chose de très particulier, de traverser une épreuve qui vous changerait, je n'en ai pas le droit. Si vous avez l'occasion de lire Le Dieu dans l'ombre, c'est que ça devait vous arriver. Moi ça m'est arrivé.
Connaissant déjà Megan Lindholm sous la plume de Robin Hobb, il était attendu que j'allais aimer, d'où les cinq étoiles. Mais là il n'est plus question de s'attacher ou non à Fitz, c'est chaque atome de ma condition de femme qui a été touché. D'où cette sensation indicible, et je vais m'arrêter là, vous laissant toute la liberté de vivre ou non, Le Dieu Dans l'ombre.
Je n'ai pas adoré, je suis marquée à vie.
Connaissant déjà Megan Lindholm sous la plume de Robin Hobb, il était attendu que j'allais aimer, d'où les cinq étoiles. Mais là il n'est plus question de s'attacher ou non à Fitz, c'est chaque atome de ma condition de femme qui a été touché. D'où cette sensation indicible, et je vais m'arrêter là, vous laissant toute la liberté de vivre ou non, Le Dieu Dans l'ombre.
Je n'ai pas adoré, je suis marquée à vie.
April 17, 2021
Mitigée du début jusqu'à la fin... Très, trop souvent mal à l'aise pendant la lecture de nooombreuses scènes.........Je n'aurais pas dû être si surprise, ayant conscience du symbole du satyre.... Mais j'ai été aveuglée par mon amour pour les doux faunes sylvestres........... Je m'attendais à une histoire plus sombre qu'érotique........ Ce n'est vraiment pas ma tasse de thé.......vraiment pas..................................... Certains passages sont même très.....très.... limites......ew
Cela dit on ne peut nier le talent de cette autrice quand il s'agit de décrire la nature. La forêt est vraiment son domaine, on ressent son amour pour les aspects ...sauvages... de l'Alaska du début à la fin et je pense que c'est ce genre de chose qui m'a aidée à venir à bout de cette romance atypique.
Je n'ai pas réussi à m'attacher aux personnages, bien qu'ils soient assez complexes et réalistes comme MARGARET sait bien les écrire, je dirais même que j'ai un peu trouvé la protagoniste désagréable à suivre....... Internalized Misogyny is strong in this one.................
En tout cas, pour l'instant, même si j'admire la capacité de MARGARET!!!! à se diversifier, je peux crier hAUT ET FORT que je préfère bien largement ce qui est écrit par Robin Hobb plutôt que par Meghan Lindholm, fa f'est fûr.........
Cela dit on ne peut nier le talent de cette autrice quand il s'agit de décrire la nature. La forêt est vraiment son domaine, on ressent son amour pour les aspects ...sauvages... de l'Alaska du début à la fin et je pense que c'est ce genre de chose qui m'a aidée à venir à bout de cette romance atypique.
Je n'ai pas réussi à m'attacher aux personnages, bien qu'ils soient assez complexes et réalistes comme MARGARET sait bien les écrire, je dirais même que j'ai un peu trouvé la protagoniste désagréable à suivre....... Internalized Misogyny is strong in this one.................
En tout cas, pour l'instant, même si j'admire la capacité de MARGARET!!!! à se diversifier, je peux crier hAUT ET FORT que je préfère bien largement ce qui est écrit par Robin Hobb plutôt que par Meghan Lindholm, fa f'est fûr.........
February 27, 2022
Un beau livre, assez en avance sur son temps de par les sujets traités. J'ai adoré la première partie absolulent dénuée de surnaturel mais pourtant glaçante. La seconde partie est intéressante pour d'autres raisons. Le personnage d'Evelyne ne m'a pas parlé outre mesure mais ces réactions sont plutôt cohérentes contrairement à ce que j'ai pu lire dans certains commentaires. Je ne m'attendais pas à aimer ce livre et pourtant ça a été le cas, Megan Lindholm est vraiment une très bonne écrivaine.
November 25, 2024
I left this book about 80% of the way through, because despite the lovely & engaging writing style the whole storyline was driving me up the wall.
Read
May 21, 2023❧ 𝐎𝐧 𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐭 𝐜'𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥'𝐡𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞 𝐥𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐛𝐝𝐨 ! 𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐜𝐢 : https://mathildecorvin.fr/index.php/2...
La semaine dernière, nous retrouvions Ursula K. Le Guin dans le monde de la Science-Fiction, plutôt que de la Fantasy. Cette fois-ci, faisons l’inverse : je vous avais raconté l’unique œuvre de Science-Fiction de Megan Lindholm. Aujourd’hui, je vous présente l’un de ses romans fantastiques.
Ainsi qu’expliqué dans cette précédente chronique, l’illustre Robin Hobb a longtemps officié sous le nom de plume de Megan Lindholm. Au travers de cette seconde personnalité, l’autrice explore des récits plus ancrés dans notre réel ; elle incorpore des métaphores puisées au sein de sa propre vie, ses questionnements quant à l’évolution des mœurs et des personnes qui lui sont proches. Avec soin, Lindholm ficelle tout cela d’éléments imaginaires et dépose dans nos mains la somme de ses visions du monde.
Parmi ses nombreux écrits se trouve une petite perle de roman : Le Dieu dans l’Ombre – un livre publié en 1991, d’environ cinq cent pages. Il est édité en France chez les Editions ActuSF. En voici le résumé :
Evelyn est une jeune fille vivant en Alaska qui s’intéresse plus à la nature qui environne sa maison plutôt qu’à ses copines et aux sujets qui traditionnellement passionnent les jeunes filles de son âge. Depuis sa tendre enfance, elle a l’habitude de rejoindre Pan, un jeune faune, au milieu de la forêt et de s’amuser avec lui. Mais l’arrivée de ses règles et son entrée dans l’âge adulte repousse le faune qui ne reparaît alors plus.Des années ont passé. Evelyn est mariée avec Tom avec qui elle a eu un enfant, Teddy. À la suite d’un problème dans la famille de Tom, ils se rendent tous les trois dans leur maison afin de leur fournir assistance pendant quelques mois. Malgré un accueil qui se voulait chaleureux, Evelyn n’est pas très bien intégrée dans la famille et au plus le temps passe, au plus elle se sent rejetée. C’est à ce moment que Pan, devenu adulte, fait sa réapparition. La tentation est grande pour Evelyn de rejeter sa vie actuelle qui ne lui apporte aucune joie ni plaisir, en dehors de la présence de son fils, pour se plonger dans une vie faite d’instincts et de plaisirs primaires.
Je crois que ce qui définit le plus l’unicité du travail de Lindholm, c’est l’alliance entre la puissance de sa plume et la profondeur de caractérisation de ses personnages. Megan Lindholm raconte des vies, des êtres dans tout ce qui les définit, et non de grandes quêtes fabuleuses et épiques. Alors, la prime et aventureuse jeunesse d’Evelyn passe à toute vitesse ; avec elle, nous sommes enfant sauvage, se carapatant dans les forêts, accompagné·e de notre ami imaginaire le Faune. L’Alaska est à la portée de chacun de nos rêves ; on y découvre les hivers rudes, ce que la nature prend de nous, ce qu’elle refuse – mais aussi les printemps où le floral se découvre, la chaleur des étés en bord de rivière. Mais voilà qu’Evelyn grandit, le Faune disparaît et de jeune fille introvertie, elle devient une femme dont la nature se voit toujours plus retranchée, diminuée. Le rythme se ralentit, s’allonge, s’étire à la mesure des tâches répétitives du quotidien d’Evelyn. L’autrice nous amène à ressentir comme sa protagoniste et avec elle, nous éprouvons les injustices, les déceptions, les frustrations, et finalement, la douleur terrible du drame.
Dans le Dieu dans l’Ombre, Megan Lindholm nous livre ce qu’est être une femme au XXème siècle. Puisque l’autrice est experte en capture des idiosyncrasies de ses protagonistes, il ne pouvait en résulter qu’un roman aussi beau, juste et authentique, que difficile et douloureux. Evelyn est un personnage assez antipathique – elle geint souvent, n’ose rien, ne s’exprime jamais, il nous vient l’envie régulière de la secouer un grand coup. Pourtant, nous restons à ses côtés, loyaux et engagés, emplis de compassion. Lindholm dépeint une femme face aux attentes d’une société qui enferme, une femme qui bataille dans sa contradiction entre l’individualité et la maternité, une femme qui veut seulement être aimée, alors que tous la poussent à se renfermer. Avec Evelyn, nous vivons le souhait d’entourer son enfant, le choyer, lui apporter ce qu’il y a de meilleur ; mais aussi les compromis, les défaites, les batailles que rien ne sert de mener. Lindholm saisit avec une finesse terrible toute la subtilité de son personnage, et des émotions face aux épreuves encourues. Au cours du roman, la situation évolue tant et si bien qu’elle nous en devient insupportable ; l’échappatoire devient une nécessité absolue. Et c’est cela même que l’autrice nous offre.
Si Le Dieu dans l’Ombre est un roman sur l’amour, il n’est pas un livre romantique. L’autrice parle de ce sujet, là encore, avec une profonde pertinence. Dans sa relation au faune Pan, Evelyn explore les multiples facettes d’une relation destinée à grandir. Des jeux innocents de l’enfance à la sensualité exacerbée de la maturité, Evelyn découvre en le faune la constance de l’amour. De Pan, Lindholm nous dit tout : elle détaille jusque dans les moindres détails ce qui fait du faune, un faune, et ainsi, le défait de sa figure mythologique mystérieuse. Pan quitte le fantastique pour rejoindre nos contrées tangibles. Au travers de cette relation amoureuse, Evelyn connait le véritable compagnonnage : elle apprend l’unité d’un groupe, la solidarité, la résistance du sentiment dans ses fluctuations et changements.
En apprenant ce qu’est l’amour véritable, Evelyn se déleste de ce qui la noyait. Aux côtés du faune, Evelyn défait, refait, se renforce et finalement, lorsque nous la quittons, nous la savons enfin au bout de sa quête de liberté. Et si Evelyn a toujours dépendu d’hommes dans son histoire, chez Lindholm rien n’est gratuit. L’autrice nous enseigne que chacune possède son propre parcours, aucune n’est égale dans son chemin. Certaines nécessitent la présence de ceux-là même qui les blessent et les détruisent, pour, enfin, parvenir à leur véritable nature et s’autoriser à la vivre.
Le Dieu dans l’Ombre est un de ces livres au goût particulier, à la saveur étrange. C’est un roman aussi beau, puissant et poétique, que difficile, agaçant et insoutenable par moment. C’est un livre qui marque, qui laisse méditatif·ve. Il me revient souvent à l’esprit : une note de mystère, d’admiration aussi. Je revois Evelyn, enfant, allongée dans les herbes au bord du ruisseau, un faune jouant de la flûte à ses côtés.
Je vous souhaite un dimanche plein de mélodies,
La bise les ami·es.
La semaine dernière, nous retrouvions Ursula K. Le Guin dans le monde de la Science-Fiction, plutôt que de la Fantasy. Cette fois-ci, faisons l’inverse : je vous avais raconté l’unique œuvre de Science-Fiction de Megan Lindholm. Aujourd’hui, je vous présente l’un de ses romans fantastiques.
Ainsi qu’expliqué dans cette précédente chronique, l’illustre Robin Hobb a longtemps officié sous le nom de plume de Megan Lindholm. Au travers de cette seconde personnalité, l’autrice explore des récits plus ancrés dans notre réel ; elle incorpore des métaphores puisées au sein de sa propre vie, ses questionnements quant à l’évolution des mœurs et des personnes qui lui sont proches. Avec soin, Lindholm ficelle tout cela d’éléments imaginaires et dépose dans nos mains la somme de ses visions du monde.
Parmi ses nombreux écrits se trouve une petite perle de roman : Le Dieu dans l’Ombre – un livre publié en 1991, d’environ cinq cent pages. Il est édité en France chez les Editions ActuSF. En voici le résumé :
Evelyn est une jeune fille vivant en Alaska qui s’intéresse plus à la nature qui environne sa maison plutôt qu’à ses copines et aux sujets qui traditionnellement passionnent les jeunes filles de son âge. Depuis sa tendre enfance, elle a l’habitude de rejoindre Pan, un jeune faune, au milieu de la forêt et de s’amuser avec lui. Mais l’arrivée de ses règles et son entrée dans l’âge adulte repousse le faune qui ne reparaît alors plus.Des années ont passé. Evelyn est mariée avec Tom avec qui elle a eu un enfant, Teddy. À la suite d’un problème dans la famille de Tom, ils se rendent tous les trois dans leur maison afin de leur fournir assistance pendant quelques mois. Malgré un accueil qui se voulait chaleureux, Evelyn n’est pas très bien intégrée dans la famille et au plus le temps passe, au plus elle se sent rejetée. C’est à ce moment que Pan, devenu adulte, fait sa réapparition. La tentation est grande pour Evelyn de rejeter sa vie actuelle qui ne lui apporte aucune joie ni plaisir, en dehors de la présence de son fils, pour se plonger dans une vie faite d’instincts et de plaisirs primaires.
Je crois que ce qui définit le plus l’unicité du travail de Lindholm, c’est l’alliance entre la puissance de sa plume et la profondeur de caractérisation de ses personnages. Megan Lindholm raconte des vies, des êtres dans tout ce qui les définit, et non de grandes quêtes fabuleuses et épiques. Alors, la prime et aventureuse jeunesse d’Evelyn passe à toute vitesse ; avec elle, nous sommes enfant sauvage, se carapatant dans les forêts, accompagné·e de notre ami imaginaire le Faune. L’Alaska est à la portée de chacun de nos rêves ; on y découvre les hivers rudes, ce que la nature prend de nous, ce qu’elle refuse – mais aussi les printemps où le floral se découvre, la chaleur des étés en bord de rivière. Mais voilà qu’Evelyn grandit, le Faune disparaît et de jeune fille introvertie, elle devient une femme dont la nature se voit toujours plus retranchée, diminuée. Le rythme se ralentit, s’allonge, s’étire à la mesure des tâches répétitives du quotidien d’Evelyn. L’autrice nous amène à ressentir comme sa protagoniste et avec elle, nous éprouvons les injustices, les déceptions, les frustrations, et finalement, la douleur terrible du drame.
Dans le Dieu dans l’Ombre, Megan Lindholm nous livre ce qu’est être une femme au XXème siècle. Puisque l’autrice est experte en capture des idiosyncrasies de ses protagonistes, il ne pouvait en résulter qu’un roman aussi beau, juste et authentique, que difficile et douloureux. Evelyn est un personnage assez antipathique – elle geint souvent, n’ose rien, ne s’exprime jamais, il nous vient l’envie régulière de la secouer un grand coup. Pourtant, nous restons à ses côtés, loyaux et engagés, emplis de compassion. Lindholm dépeint une femme face aux attentes d’une société qui enferme, une femme qui bataille dans sa contradiction entre l’individualité et la maternité, une femme qui veut seulement être aimée, alors que tous la poussent à se renfermer. Avec Evelyn, nous vivons le souhait d’entourer son enfant, le choyer, lui apporter ce qu’il y a de meilleur ; mais aussi les compromis, les défaites, les batailles que rien ne sert de mener. Lindholm saisit avec une finesse terrible toute la subtilité de son personnage, et des émotions face aux épreuves encourues. Au cours du roman, la situation évolue tant et si bien qu’elle nous en devient insupportable ; l’échappatoire devient une nécessité absolue. Et c’est cela même que l’autrice nous offre.
Si Le Dieu dans l’Ombre est un roman sur l’amour, il n’est pas un livre romantique. L’autrice parle de ce sujet, là encore, avec une profonde pertinence. Dans sa relation au faune Pan, Evelyn explore les multiples facettes d’une relation destinée à grandir. Des jeux innocents de l’enfance à la sensualité exacerbée de la maturité, Evelyn découvre en le faune la constance de l’amour. De Pan, Lindholm nous dit tout : elle détaille jusque dans les moindres détails ce qui fait du faune, un faune, et ainsi, le défait de sa figure mythologique mystérieuse. Pan quitte le fantastique pour rejoindre nos contrées tangibles. Au travers de cette relation amoureuse, Evelyn connait le véritable compagnonnage : elle apprend l’unité d’un groupe, la solidarité, la résistance du sentiment dans ses fluctuations et changements.
En apprenant ce qu’est l’amour véritable, Evelyn se déleste de ce qui la noyait. Aux côtés du faune, Evelyn défait, refait, se renforce et finalement, lorsque nous la quittons, nous la savons enfin au bout de sa quête de liberté. Et si Evelyn a toujours dépendu d’hommes dans son histoire, chez Lindholm rien n’est gratuit. L’autrice nous enseigne que chacune possède son propre parcours, aucune n’est égale dans son chemin. Certaines nécessitent la présence de ceux-là même qui les blessent et les détruisent, pour, enfin, parvenir à leur véritable nature et s’autoriser à la vivre.
Le Dieu dans l’Ombre est un de ces livres au goût particulier, à la saveur étrange. C’est un roman aussi beau, puissant et poétique, que difficile, agaçant et insoutenable par moment. C’est un livre qui marque, qui laisse méditatif·ve. Il me revient souvent à l’esprit : une note de mystère, d’admiration aussi. Je revois Evelyn, enfant, allongée dans les herbes au bord du ruisseau, un faune jouant de la flûte à ses côtés.
Je vous souhaite un dimanche plein de mélodies,
La bise les ami·es.
December 28, 2021
Cloven Hooves is out of print and hard to find. That said, as a huge Robin Hobb fan, I set out to find this book. I managed to get a beat up paperback from thriftbooks.com.
It is with almost a lackluster heart, this reader can only give the story 3 stars. On the other hand, it was not the writing that was bad, far from it. It just made me Sad and Mad.
Megan Lindholm writes a fanciful, lyrical novel with beautiful poetic paragraphs of both Alaskan and Washington's wilderness, sensual passages of Pan and her characters are by no means one dimensional. Evelyn's wild untamed childhood, inability or unwillingness to understand social expectations ran true with some of my own experiences as a kid.
However, Evelyn is a weak and ineffective person. She is unable to stand up for herself against her rigid, unfeeling extended family, nor can she put her foot down when her husband blindly follows in his family's wake. At one point, Evelyn enviously describes her husband as someone who can smoothly transform himself into Whomever or Whatever Others want or need whereas she stumbles, falters and errs every time she tries to do the same. At least with Pan, her weakness is because of his supernatural magnetism.
Lindholm's beautiful prose saves this story and kept me reading to the fairly satisfying end.
This book is has graphic descriptions of sexual encounters, the human body and may not be suitable for younger readers.
It is with almost a lackluster heart, this reader can only give the story 3 stars. On the other hand, it was not the writing that was bad, far from it. It just made me Sad and Mad.
Megan Lindholm writes a fanciful, lyrical novel with beautiful poetic paragraphs of both Alaskan and Washington's wilderness, sensual passages of Pan and her characters are by no means one dimensional. Evelyn's wild untamed childhood, inability or unwillingness to understand social expectations ran true with some of my own experiences as a kid.
However, Evelyn is a weak and ineffective person. She is unable to stand up for herself against her rigid, unfeeling extended family, nor can she put her foot down when her husband blindly follows in his family's wake. At one point, Evelyn enviously describes her husband as someone who can smoothly transform himself into Whomever or Whatever Others want or need whereas she stumbles, falters and errs every time she tries to do the same. At least with Pan, her weakness is because of his supernatural magnetism.
Lindholm's beautiful prose saves this story and kept me reading to the fairly satisfying end.
This book is has graphic descriptions of sexual encounters, the human body and may not be suitable for younger readers.
October 5, 2020
I feel that this is a book that introverts will love - not so much for extroverts, though, as they wouldn't really enjoy the soul-searching the main character, Evelyn, continuously does.
At the start of the book, Evelyn, her husband, Tom, and their five year old son, Teddy, are on a journey from Alaska, where Evelyn was born and raised, and where they live in their own log cabin, to go to Tom's family home in Washington, so that Tom can help out on the family farm, due to his brother-in-law's shoulder injury.
When they first arrive, and are placed in the little guest cottage beside the big house, all is fine, as Tom jumps in to help with the work needed.
Unfortunately, Tom's mother and sister are everything to do with shopping malls, and the latest fashions, but Evelyn, a girl raised up, rather neglected, within a large family with little possessions, was an introvert, a wild child, in the way of nature, and living with nature, so she finds it very hard to find any meeting of minds with Tom's family - especially his father, who could be too forceful, and crude in the way he deals with people, including his own family.
Soon, things are going wrong for Evelyn, as Tom's family start drawing her son Teddy into their lives, leaving her alone in the little guest house that she despises, with nothing to do but endless cleaning - which her in laws constantly disparage as not good enough - and so she is drawn towards the woodlands nearby to their property.
There, she meets, once again, her friend from childhood, grown to manhood - a Faun, a Satyr, a being both man and goat, one that she'd convinced herself had been purely in her imagination, and had named Pan, after the figure of mythology.
And so, as her relationship with both Tom, and his family, become more and more separated, due, in some part, by her inability to understand this family of extroverts, but also due to her own belief that she just wasn't good enough for someone like Tom, then Evelyn uses the time that she is left alone, to rekindle her childhood friendship, and to draw her son back to her side, by showing him the aspects of her childhood in the wilds of the nearby forest.
This makes things ever harder for Evelyn to try breaching the united front that Tom's family put up towards her, and so, over the weeks, she turns more toward what is familiar to her.
Teddy, also, goes more into the forest, making friends with this brown man who knows his mother until, at the start of harvest time, Tom insists on taking Teddy to help at the harvest of a neighbor.
Evelyn, left alone again, goes into the forest again, and there, she and Pan finally make love.
When she gets back to the guest house, much later than she should, she is afraid that Tom will confront her but, to her surprise, there's nobody around - every vehicle on the property is gone
So Evelyn goes to the big house, where the only telephone is, and is just about to try phoning the neighbour when the phone rings - she picks it up, only to hear a stranger's voice, speaking condolences at the loss of Teddy!
So Evelyn waits, and waits, for Tom's family to arrive, to find out what had happened to her son but, when they eventually arrive back, in the early hours of the morning, the family all go to the big house, totally ignoring her.
She eventually goes to bed, hoping that Tom will come to tell her what's happening but, when he eventually comes to her, he doesn't explain what happened, only that Teddy had died in an accident at the harvesting.
For the next days, Evelyn is left alone in the guest house, and Tom stays with his family, as vehicle after vehicle, filled with friends and neighbors, visit with condolences and food - not a person goes to Evelyn, to draw her into the family circle.
Tom's mother and sister, Steffie, take over all the things needed to organise the funeral, going into town, and choosing everything needed - and Steffie takes every opportunity to break down crying in each shop they go to - turning to Tom for comfort, as if she was the mother of the lost child, while Evelyn stands in the background, ignored by all, and never allowed to make any of the decisions needed.
It all comes to a head, at the funeral where, for the first time, she sees her dead son in the open casket, and has to acknowledge that, indeed, Teddy really IS dead. She then breaks down in this realisation, and rushes from the church in total grief, only to have Tom come after her, accusing her of staging it all to get attention!
This is the final straw for her, and so she tells Tom what she knows he needs, to make him the innocent one in his family's eyes, and she takes one of the family cars parked nearby, then drives back to the guest house, changes into jeans and sneakers, picks up the bare minimum of what she needs, then walks out of the door, and into the forest.
Her life with Tom is over, but Pan is there, waiting for her.
From then on, Evelyn follows Pan, both heading north, on their way to Canada first, deeper and deeper into the wilds.
It's there that Evelyn realises that she is pregnant, but doesn't know if it's Tom's child, or Pan's - until Pan let's her know that it is, indeed, his child, and that the pregnancy will be much shorter than her first was.
It's while Pan is leading her ever more into the wild places, that he starts to tell her about himself, and his family, and that, unlike humanity, Fauns have an ancestral memory, that runs from father to son, continuously - and as he tells her about this, he takes her deeper and deeper, providing her with the food she needs to nourish the child in her as they go, and drawing ever deeper into the mountains.
It is in the mountains that he takes her on a path leading up into a cave, that he remembers from a previous life, and it's there that Evelyn eventually gives birth to her second son, Avery.
But, as Avery starts to develop so much more quickly than Teddy had, and Pan stops initiating their lovemaking, that Evelyn starts to realise that their lives together will only be short.
When spring comes, Pan starts packing up what they will need to take with them, carefully storing away, into cedar boxes, those things he'd unpacked to make life easier for Evelyn, and it's only when they eventually reach the border between Canada and Alaska, that Pan let's her know that, once she has reached her home, he'll be going away with Avery, in order to teach him all he'll need to know, to survive in the wilds.
Evelyn, looking back at her childhood while they were separated at the border, realised that, rather than being a creature of the wilds, as she'd always thought of herself, had only actually been shown a glimpse of that, through her friendship with Pan, and so she realises that Pan wad right to insist that she go back among humanity, while he disappears, into the wilds once more, to teach his son.
Evelyn knows she'll probably never see him, or Avery, again, but manages to say goodbye to them before setting off to her own cottage.
She finds legal forms there, from Tom, issuing their divorce, and cedeing the property, and vehicle, to her - and so she determines to make the best of her life there that she can.
Unlike some reviewers, I felt a lot of sympathy for Evelyn. Being an introvert myself, I know how hard it can be to mix with, and understand, extroverts - I married one, so know the adjustments needed to keep a marriage a happy one.
Many reviewers seem to have found Evelyn whiney, but I think that, as usual, Meghan Lindholm aka Robin Hobb, got this characterisation right - everyone I've ever spoken to about the subject, have agreed that it's normal to have the kind of internal battles with one's self in any kind of stressful situation. Evelyn, rather than being whiney, was struggling not to revert back to get childhood persona, to try to see other's points of view, and mesh it with what she knew of her own character's reactions.
I thought that she fought as well as she could, to keep her own moral compass, especially trying to cope with as strong-willed a family as Tom's, and to keep herself free of it all, so that she could stay true to who she was.
This, like so many of RH's books, will be a keeper - and it'll be interesting for me, when I next read it again, to see if my thoughts on it have changed!
At the start of the book, Evelyn, her husband, Tom, and their five year old son, Teddy, are on a journey from Alaska, where Evelyn was born and raised, and where they live in their own log cabin, to go to Tom's family home in Washington, so that Tom can help out on the family farm, due to his brother-in-law's shoulder injury.
When they first arrive, and are placed in the little guest cottage beside the big house, all is fine, as Tom jumps in to help with the work needed.
Unfortunately, Tom's mother and sister are everything to do with shopping malls, and the latest fashions, but Evelyn, a girl raised up, rather neglected, within a large family with little possessions, was an introvert, a wild child, in the way of nature, and living with nature, so she finds it very hard to find any meeting of minds with Tom's family - especially his father, who could be too forceful, and crude in the way he deals with people, including his own family.
Soon, things are going wrong for Evelyn, as Tom's family start drawing her son Teddy into their lives, leaving her alone in the little guest house that she despises, with nothing to do but endless cleaning - which her in laws constantly disparage as not good enough - and so she is drawn towards the woodlands nearby to their property.
There, she meets, once again, her friend from childhood, grown to manhood - a Faun, a Satyr, a being both man and goat, one that she'd convinced herself had been purely in her imagination, and had named Pan, after the figure of mythology.
And so, as her relationship with both Tom, and his family, become more and more separated, due, in some part, by her inability to understand this family of extroverts, but also due to her own belief that she just wasn't good enough for someone like Tom, then Evelyn uses the time that she is left alone, to rekindle her childhood friendship, and to draw her son back to her side, by showing him the aspects of her childhood in the wilds of the nearby forest.
This makes things ever harder for Evelyn to try breaching the united front that Tom's family put up towards her, and so, over the weeks, she turns more toward what is familiar to her.
Teddy, also, goes more into the forest, making friends with this brown man who knows his mother until, at the start of harvest time, Tom insists on taking Teddy to help at the harvest of a neighbor.
Evelyn, left alone again, goes into the forest again, and there, she and Pan finally make love.
When she gets back to the guest house, much later than she should, she is afraid that Tom will confront her but, to her surprise, there's nobody around - every vehicle on the property is gone
So Evelyn goes to the big house, where the only telephone is, and is just about to try phoning the neighbour when the phone rings - she picks it up, only to hear a stranger's voice, speaking condolences at the loss of Teddy!
So Evelyn waits, and waits, for Tom's family to arrive, to find out what had happened to her son but, when they eventually arrive back, in the early hours of the morning, the family all go to the big house, totally ignoring her.
She eventually goes to bed, hoping that Tom will come to tell her what's happening but, when he eventually comes to her, he doesn't explain what happened, only that Teddy had died in an accident at the harvesting.
For the next days, Evelyn is left alone in the guest house, and Tom stays with his family, as vehicle after vehicle, filled with friends and neighbors, visit with condolences and food - not a person goes to Evelyn, to draw her into the family circle.
Tom's mother and sister, Steffie, take over all the things needed to organise the funeral, going into town, and choosing everything needed - and Steffie takes every opportunity to break down crying in each shop they go to - turning to Tom for comfort, as if she was the mother of the lost child, while Evelyn stands in the background, ignored by all, and never allowed to make any of the decisions needed.
It all comes to a head, at the funeral where, for the first time, she sees her dead son in the open casket, and has to acknowledge that, indeed, Teddy really IS dead. She then breaks down in this realisation, and rushes from the church in total grief, only to have Tom come after her, accusing her of staging it all to get attention!
This is the final straw for her, and so she tells Tom what she knows he needs, to make him the innocent one in his family's eyes, and she takes one of the family cars parked nearby, then drives back to the guest house, changes into jeans and sneakers, picks up the bare minimum of what she needs, then walks out of the door, and into the forest.
Her life with Tom is over, but Pan is there, waiting for her.
From then on, Evelyn follows Pan, both heading north, on their way to Canada first, deeper and deeper into the wilds.
It's there that Evelyn realises that she is pregnant, but doesn't know if it's Tom's child, or Pan's - until Pan let's her know that it is, indeed, his child, and that the pregnancy will be much shorter than her first was.
It's while Pan is leading her ever more into the wild places, that he starts to tell her about himself, and his family, and that, unlike humanity, Fauns have an ancestral memory, that runs from father to son, continuously - and as he tells her about this, he takes her deeper and deeper, providing her with the food she needs to nourish the child in her as they go, and drawing ever deeper into the mountains.
It is in the mountains that he takes her on a path leading up into a cave, that he remembers from a previous life, and it's there that Evelyn eventually gives birth to her second son, Avery.
But, as Avery starts to develop so much more quickly than Teddy had, and Pan stops initiating their lovemaking, that Evelyn starts to realise that their lives together will only be short.
When spring comes, Pan starts packing up what they will need to take with them, carefully storing away, into cedar boxes, those things he'd unpacked to make life easier for Evelyn, and it's only when they eventually reach the border between Canada and Alaska, that Pan let's her know that, once she has reached her home, he'll be going away with Avery, in order to teach him all he'll need to know, to survive in the wilds.
Evelyn, looking back at her childhood while they were separated at the border, realised that, rather than being a creature of the wilds, as she'd always thought of herself, had only actually been shown a glimpse of that, through her friendship with Pan, and so she realises that Pan wad right to insist that she go back among humanity, while he disappears, into the wilds once more, to teach his son.
Evelyn knows she'll probably never see him, or Avery, again, but manages to say goodbye to them before setting off to her own cottage.
She finds legal forms there, from Tom, issuing their divorce, and cedeing the property, and vehicle, to her - and so she determines to make the best of her life there that she can.
Unlike some reviewers, I felt a lot of sympathy for Evelyn. Being an introvert myself, I know how hard it can be to mix with, and understand, extroverts - I married one, so know the adjustments needed to keep a marriage a happy one.
Many reviewers seem to have found Evelyn whiney, but I think that, as usual, Meghan Lindholm aka Robin Hobb, got this characterisation right - everyone I've ever spoken to about the subject, have agreed that it's normal to have the kind of internal battles with one's self in any kind of stressful situation. Evelyn, rather than being whiney, was struggling not to revert back to get childhood persona, to try to see other's points of view, and mesh it with what she knew of her own character's reactions.
I thought that she fought as well as she could, to keep her own moral compass, especially trying to cope with as strong-willed a family as Tom's, and to keep herself free of it all, so that she could stay true to who she was.
This, like so many of RH's books, will be a keeper - and it'll be interesting for me, when I next read it again, to see if my thoughts on it have changed!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2021
Woah.
Un livre d'une infinie tristesse, d'une profondeur terrible et d'un style d'écriture épuré et si poétique a la fois. La lecture me fut difficile toute la première partie du bouquin, tant Megan a cette capacité à pointer du doigt les douleurs et combats intérieurs. Je retrouve mon autrice favorite et son talent de description de la profondeur humaine ; monologues internes, regard sur soi, forces, faiblesses, pièges de la vie, interrogations sur l'amour et ses multiples déclinaisons, maternité, mythologie, rapport à la nature... C'était un livre très complet et aux multiples lectures.
Et bon, elle est vraiment trop forte pour créer des personnages aussi attachants que frustrants et agaçants 😂
Un livre d'une infinie tristesse, d'une profondeur terrible et d'un style d'écriture épuré et si poétique a la fois. La lecture me fut difficile toute la première partie du bouquin, tant Megan a cette capacité à pointer du doigt les douleurs et combats intérieurs. Je retrouve mon autrice favorite et son talent de description de la profondeur humaine ; monologues internes, regard sur soi, forces, faiblesses, pièges de la vie, interrogations sur l'amour et ses multiples déclinaisons, maternité, mythologie, rapport à la nature... C'était un livre très complet et aux multiples lectures.
Et bon, elle est vraiment trop forte pour créer des personnages aussi attachants que frustrants et agaçants 😂
May 16, 2023
Some of you may know that I read all of Robin Hobb’s books years and years ago but i have been savouring the last few Meghan Lindholm ones (Hobbs other pen name)
because then i will have no Hobb left and be sad!
Today I thought I would treat myself to one of the last ones and i’m sad to say… it was not great 😅it’s also the first Hobb book I haven’t enjoyed. I just had so many problems with it I don’t even know where to start 😭
because then i will have no Hobb left and be sad!
Today I thought I would treat myself to one of the last ones and i’m sad to say… it was not great 😅it’s also the first Hobb book I haven’t enjoyed. I just had so many problems with it I don’t even know where to start 😭
May 3, 2021
Why do I always forget that Lindholm's stories have this amazing capacity to turn vividly bitter?
June 5, 2022
Toute la partie avec des interactions humaines m'a donné envie de secouer les protagonistes ou de leur coller des baffes. Néanmoins le ton est juste et "vécu" tant les émotions engendrées sont vives... donc bilan mitigé mais écriture réussie
Les parties plus en phase avec la nature sont grandioses et sans tomber dans une féerie niaise donc j'ai bien aimé.
Il manque quelque chose pour que je puisse classer ce livre dans les livres à lire et relire
Les parties plus en phase avec la nature sont grandioses et sans tomber dans une féerie niaise donc j'ai bien aimé.
Il manque quelque chose pour que je puisse classer ce livre dans les livres à lire et relire
Read
February 16, 2020Ugh, not even the promise of satyr sex is enlivening this dreary af dated af read. When will I learn that there are only three American writers who don’t bore the hell out of me?
October 5, 2019
Compliqué de parler de ce livre. Je lui ai trouvé un potentiel inexploité, une occasion manquée de parler justement de choses importantes.
Un décor prometteur que celui de la maison traditionnelle et emprisonnante, avec un personnage de femme des 70s qui ne s’y sent pas à sa place. Des retours en pensée sur une enfance onirique. Et puis ça devient laborieux, lent, trop lent. Il y a beaucoup de répétitions et plus on avance (à un rythme...) moins j’ai d’empathie pour cette Evelyn qui ne fait que se plaindre sans trouver de solution pourtant simple à ses problèmes. Peut-être le livre nous parle-t-il de l’importance de la communication des sentiments et des pensées, parce qu’elle y est très mauvaise et tout se serait amélioré bien des fois si elle s’était efforcé de communiquer plutôt que de geindre dans son coin.
Elle nous parle d’indépendance, or elle ne fait rien pour l’être, s’attendant à ce qu’on la lui offre, et se rendant compte qu’elle est bien incapable de vivre seule en nature sans s’y être préparé. Quelle surprise.
Il y a deux parties au livre, la première qui démontre qu’elle n’est pas faite pour la vie en communauté humaine, et la deuxième, qui montre qu’elle n’est pas non plus faite pour la vie en nature. De là, j’ai un peu de mal à cibler le sens profond du propos du livre. J’ai l’impression qu’on me parle de deux choses entièrement différente. D’une part la puissance de la nature mais qui se meurt, et notre inadéquation avec elle, notre éloignement maintenant quasi générique avec elle. Et d’autre part la place dans la société et la famille de la femme des 70s. Et paradoxalement, en tant de pages et à un rythme si lent, de tout cela, on ne dit pas grand chose.
Au final, une lecture pour moi assez décevante.
Un décor prometteur que celui de la maison traditionnelle et emprisonnante, avec un personnage de femme des 70s qui ne s’y sent pas à sa place. Des retours en pensée sur une enfance onirique. Et puis ça devient laborieux, lent, trop lent. Il y a beaucoup de répétitions et plus on avance (à un rythme...) moins j’ai d’empathie pour cette Evelyn qui ne fait que se plaindre sans trouver de solution pourtant simple à ses problèmes. Peut-être le livre nous parle-t-il de l’importance de la communication des sentiments et des pensées, parce qu’elle y est très mauvaise et tout se serait amélioré bien des fois si elle s’était efforcé de communiquer plutôt que de geindre dans son coin.
Elle nous parle d’indépendance, or elle ne fait rien pour l’être, s’attendant à ce qu’on la lui offre, et se rendant compte qu’elle est bien incapable de vivre seule en nature sans s’y être préparé. Quelle surprise.
Il y a deux parties au livre, la première qui démontre qu’elle n’est pas faite pour la vie en communauté humaine, et la deuxième, qui montre qu’elle n’est pas non plus faite pour la vie en nature. De là, j’ai un peu de mal à cibler le sens profond du propos du livre. J’ai l’impression qu’on me parle de deux choses entièrement différente. D’une part la puissance de la nature mais qui se meurt, et notre inadéquation avec elle, notre éloignement maintenant quasi générique avec elle. Et d’autre part la place dans la société et la famille de la femme des 70s. Et paradoxalement, en tant de pages et à un rythme si lent, de tout cela, on ne dit pas grand chose.
Au final, une lecture pour moi assez décevante.
July 26, 2016
A story about unnerving characters and a strange relationship with a faun, told through long descriptions full of nature, snow and boring things.
Tom is needed by his family, so Evelyn and their boy go with him to live on the parents' property. Evelyn has a very hard time to adjust, they don't want her at the farm so all she does all day is cleaning the little house. When she was young, she had a special friend: a faun. And it seems that once again, he's around.
As usual, Megan knew where she wanted to go with her story and was very talented in creating people I totally despised. I also didn't connect with Evelyn, so without a character to like, it was impossible for me to enjoy the book or really enter the story. Evelyn was always on the defensive or angry, and she had some rights to be like this, but she really did nothing to solve the problems so it was unnerving. However, I enjoyed her childhood memories, with the smell of Alaska, the wildness and the fact that her feelings seemed realistic. The faun was interesting but didn't add much to the story (any naked male could work here) and I was disturbed by the explicite content (I'm still not sure if a faun is human or animal, so the interspecies stuff was weird). The story mixed well reality and mythology, wildness and terrible family, happiness and grief, but I wasn't interested. Same for the descriptions, they pictured well the wild or the places, but they were way too long and I skipped most of them after the first chapters. Overall, it was disappointing because usually Hobb's books work for me, but it's a different genre and kind of story, so it's probably just not a book for me.
Tom is needed by his family, so Evelyn and their boy go with him to live on the parents' property. Evelyn has a very hard time to adjust, they don't want her at the farm so all she does all day is cleaning the little house. When she was young, she had a special friend: a faun. And it seems that once again, he's around.
As usual, Megan knew where she wanted to go with her story and was very talented in creating people I totally despised. I also didn't connect with Evelyn, so without a character to like, it was impossible for me to enjoy the book or really enter the story. Evelyn was always on the defensive or angry, and she had some rights to be like this, but she really did nothing to solve the problems so it was unnerving. However, I enjoyed her childhood memories, with the smell of Alaska, the wildness and the fact that her feelings seemed realistic. The faun was interesting but didn't add much to the story (any naked male could work here) and I was disturbed by the explicite content (I'm still not sure if a faun is human or animal, so the interspecies stuff was weird). The story mixed well reality and mythology, wildness and terrible family, happiness and grief, but I wasn't interested. Same for the descriptions, they pictured well the wild or the places, but they were way too long and I skipped most of them after the first chapters. Overall, it was disappointing because usually Hobb's books work for me, but it's a different genre and kind of story, so it's probably just not a book for me.
April 19, 2018
There's no such thing as a bad Robin Hobb or Megan Lindholm book in my opinion.
Both of this author's incarnations/styles are always, dedicated to the humane and adventurously exciting. I think the Lindholm books have a more modest sensibility- but they're always amazingly original with a bit more of the funkiness of humanity.
I'm only singling out Lindholm's "Cloven Hooves" because it works so beautifully as both an erotically-tinged fantasy and a wicked and unexpected satire. I can't imagine why no one's done this as a film or television show or series. Then again Ms. Hobb/Lindholm shows an admirable restraint in not imagining filmed or televised versions of her work to be the touchstone of her "success". Her success is that she's a wonderful writer who happens to work in the fantasy realm.
My partner and I both had a Robin Hobb book recommended to us by his brother- who's recently passed-and it's been impossible for either of us not to buy and delight in anything she's written over the years.
Both of this author's incarnations/styles are always, dedicated to the humane and adventurously exciting. I think the Lindholm books have a more modest sensibility- but they're always amazingly original with a bit more of the funkiness of humanity.
I'm only singling out Lindholm's "Cloven Hooves" because it works so beautifully as both an erotically-tinged fantasy and a wicked and unexpected satire. I can't imagine why no one's done this as a film or television show or series. Then again Ms. Hobb/Lindholm shows an admirable restraint in not imagining filmed or televised versions of her work to be the touchstone of her "success". Her success is that she's a wonderful writer who happens to work in the fantasy realm.
My partner and I both had a Robin Hobb book recommended to us by his brother- who's recently passed-and it's been impossible for either of us not to buy and delight in anything she's written over the years.
June 6, 2020
There are books, and then there are books by Robin Hobb/Megan Lindholm. These books do not easily let me leave their world, they insinuate themselves into my waking world and change my thoughts and feelings. They are always at the edge of my mind, calling for me to return to them and follow the story.
This one is admittedly weird and uncomfortable at times - a woman falls in love with a satyr. Yet Hobb's skill is such that she makes it all unfold naturally, so that no other path is ever more clearly defined than the one she leads us down. The world is extremely vivid and rich and once again she does a beautiful job of contrasting the expectations of the characters themselves against the expectations and obligations of society, family and the way of the world. The interactions are raw and honest and true.
This story may not appeal to many, but I love Hobb's work, and I am left with the uneasy feeling of a book hangover. It moved me and I will return to this world again.
This one is admittedly weird and uncomfortable at times - a woman falls in love with a satyr. Yet Hobb's skill is such that she makes it all unfold naturally, so that no other path is ever more clearly defined than the one she leads us down. The world is extremely vivid and rich and once again she does a beautiful job of contrasting the expectations of the characters themselves against the expectations and obligations of society, family and the way of the world. The interactions are raw and honest and true.
This story may not appeal to many, but I love Hobb's work, and I am left with the uneasy feeling of a book hangover. It moved me and I will return to this world again.
January 22, 2023
Le dieu dans l'ombre est un roman atypique qui remue, fait passer ses lecteurs par un tout un tas d'émotions, les poussent dans leurs retranchements, tout en les incitant à se recentrer sur l'essentiel et à saisir toute la puissance d'une nature avec laquelle on peut entrer en résonance, mais en aucun cas dompter. Il y a quelque chose de saisissant dans la rencontre entre un dieu qui suit ses instincts sans se poser de questions et une humaine qui passe son temps à trahir ce qu'elle est vraiment... jusqu'à ce que la vie lui fasse subir la pire des épreuves, et lui offre en même temps la meilleure des chances. Celle d'enfin se trouver et d'offrir à ce qu'elle a de plus cher; le plus dur mais le plus beau des cadeaux !
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