Publication
Amsterdam De Bezige Bij 2005
ISBN
9023418778 / 9789023418771
Collection
Description
"The nationally best-selling author of House of Leaves and Only Revolutions has crafted a powerfully chilling novella--a ghost story for grownup readers. Late one evening at a party at an East Texas ranch house, five orphans gather to hear a story about a quest for a terrible weapon. Before them lies a long black box with five latches. As the owner of the box settles into a curious tale of revenge, the children grow more and more captivated, even as we grow more and more afraid that a new crime may await them all, especially as clocks in Upshur County approach midnight"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member Sean191
Another artistic work from Danielewski. Harder to follow at first than House of Leaves, since it's depending on colors to identify different speakers, but still interesting. The artwork really is what moves the book from a 3 1/2 star to a 4 for me.
LibraryThing member JimElkins
Let's strip this book of its components, one by one.
1. The book was done in collaboration with three "stitchers," who sewed the sometimes very elaborate patterns that are reproduced throughout the book. The problem here is that the stitching only intermittently connects with the narrative. The key
2. So imagine the book without the illustrations. The principal typographic innovation in this book is differently-colored quotation marks, that stand for different speakers. But it is apparently nearly from the first page that it is not possible to read every yellow quotation, for example, in sequence; and it is apparent from somewhere around page 20 that the five characters, introduced in the author's preface and coded by color, will not in fact be introduced or described in the book. And from that point on, a reader just reads straight through the colored quotation marks. Occasionally a slightly different point of view, or a briefly fragmented narrative, will recall the color coding, but it doesn't help read the book. This is in contrast to any number of modern and postmodern experiments with unnamed and unnumbered interlocutors, from "Ulysses" to Derrida's "Truth in Painting," where it really is interesting to try to figure out who is speaking.
3. Imagining the book without its colored quotation marks or its graphics, there's still the arrangement of words on the page. Occasionally that makes sense, for example when one of the characters is slicing herself up with an imaginary sword, and the words scatter to evoke her cuts. But for the most part, these are not inventive or expressive arrangements. I agree with the reviewer in the "New York Times": sometimes the space around sentences just doesn't work to emphasize them; and in addition, there are almost no imaginative pictorial arrangements of words, despite a century of precedents, from Mallarmé to Apollinaire and Huidobro.
4. So now imagine the book is just printed, in the usual way, with no special typography, no colors, and no graphical arrangement of text. There is one final obstacle between a reader and the narrative itself and that is Danielewski's penchant for inventing portmanteau words. I found this annoying and inept throughout. The modernist tradition of newly coined words, from "Finnegans Wake" through Matthiessen, Winterson, Burgess, and Bernstein, demands consistency: the author has to adopt a certain mode, a manner in relation to the voices she's imagining. What happens here is entirely different: Danielewski only occasionally invents word—one or two per page. As a result they are consistently distracting. Is it really a good idea to interrupt the climactic moment of the story, in which a woman is running to help another who is literally falling to pieces, by saying she was "racing forward, direticating others"? "Direticating" seems to be a portmanteau combination of "directing" and "dictating," with an echo of "dire." But all it does her is interrupt the narrative flow, bring the reader out of the scene, and compel her to solve a ridiculous little puzzle before continuing. There are man, many other examples—my copy is entirely marked up with them. Virtually none of them work with the narrative, the voice, the style, or any other component of the fiction: instead they forcibly compel a read to attend to Danielewski's show of skill. (Is that's what it is: I don't think portmanteau is especially difficult.)
What is left? A good, brief ghost story, suitable for children—except that it isn't suitable for any kind of children except the ones whose parents insist that they become sophisticated and literary.
1. The book was done in collaboration with three "stitchers," who sewed the sometimes very elaborate patterns that are reproduced throughout the book. The problem here is that the stitching only intermittently connects with the narrative. The key
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moment when a box with five latches is opened (p. 212 ff.) is illustrated with full-page, full-color photographs of stitched rectangles intended to illustrate the latches. But there is no connection between the zig-zag patterns on the latches and the scene evoked in the narrative. Why curvilinear decorations on the latches? The mismatch between the single lines of text--in which each child lifts a latch--and the labor expended on the sewing isn't itself explained or motivated. The sewing works best in the pages that illustrate the spooky storyteller's swords (p. 196 ff.), because the imaginary swords in the story are rendered as static pictures of swords: a nice contrast with the slicing horrors the storyteller is evoking. But most episodes are disconnected from their narratives. The "Forest of Falling" is illustrated by falling lines of punched-out holes, but they're randomly stitched in patterns that look more like confetti than leaves. And so forth. An MFA-level critique would have been helpful here, matching the form of the stitching to the images and shapes in the story.2. So imagine the book without the illustrations. The principal typographic innovation in this book is differently-colored quotation marks, that stand for different speakers. But it is apparently nearly from the first page that it is not possible to read every yellow quotation, for example, in sequence; and it is apparent from somewhere around page 20 that the five characters, introduced in the author's preface and coded by color, will not in fact be introduced or described in the book. And from that point on, a reader just reads straight through the colored quotation marks. Occasionally a slightly different point of view, or a briefly fragmented narrative, will recall the color coding, but it doesn't help read the book. This is in contrast to any number of modern and postmodern experiments with unnamed and unnumbered interlocutors, from "Ulysses" to Derrida's "Truth in Painting," where it really is interesting to try to figure out who is speaking.
3. Imagining the book without its colored quotation marks or its graphics, there's still the arrangement of words on the page. Occasionally that makes sense, for example when one of the characters is slicing herself up with an imaginary sword, and the words scatter to evoke her cuts. But for the most part, these are not inventive or expressive arrangements. I agree with the reviewer in the "New York Times": sometimes the space around sentences just doesn't work to emphasize them; and in addition, there are almost no imaginative pictorial arrangements of words, despite a century of precedents, from Mallarmé to Apollinaire and Huidobro.
4. So now imagine the book is just printed, in the usual way, with no special typography, no colors, and no graphical arrangement of text. There is one final obstacle between a reader and the narrative itself and that is Danielewski's penchant for inventing portmanteau words. I found this annoying and inept throughout. The modernist tradition of newly coined words, from "Finnegans Wake" through Matthiessen, Winterson, Burgess, and Bernstein, demands consistency: the author has to adopt a certain mode, a manner in relation to the voices she's imagining. What happens here is entirely different: Danielewski only occasionally invents word—one or two per page. As a result they are consistently distracting. Is it really a good idea to interrupt the climactic moment of the story, in which a woman is running to help another who is literally falling to pieces, by saying she was "racing forward, direticating others"? "Direticating" seems to be a portmanteau combination of "directing" and "dictating," with an echo of "dire." But all it does her is interrupt the narrative flow, bring the reader out of the scene, and compel her to solve a ridiculous little puzzle before continuing. There are man, many other examples—my copy is entirely marked up with them. Virtually none of them work with the narrative, the voice, the style, or any other component of the fiction: instead they forcibly compel a read to attend to Danielewski's show of skill. (Is that's what it is: I don't think portmanteau is especially difficult.)
What is left? A good, brief ghost story, suitable for children—except that it isn't suitable for any kind of children except the ones whose parents insist that they become sophisticated and literary.
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LibraryThing member HadriantheBlind
MZD, if nothing else, is an experimenter as much as he is a storyteller. His first and most famous book, House of Leaves, is a great bulk of a book, a maze within itself, brutally tearing at the art of the novel and our own fears. Only Revolutions, by contrast, is a rotten egg, forcing the reader
The Fifty Year Sword combines some of the elements which made MZD famous. There are two main quirks in this novella. The first is a set of five different colors of quotation marks, indicating one of five speakers. In the beginning, you may be tempted to splice and connect these interweaving narrative threads - see if they refer to each other, see if they are nested recursions - but as far as I can tell, they best form a narrative flow if you read them consecutively. Only rarely does he stray from linear action.
The second are the illustrations, referring to his favorite habit of combining the visual with the textual. Here, we have a series of knitted illustrations. These are very well-done, and I won't go into too much detail, but they interact easily with the text, as a supplement and as part of the story itself.
The plot concerns five orphans, a story teller, and a fifty-year sword, the nature of which I will not reveal. The story is somewhere between Ginsburg and Edgar Allen Poe. There is exploration, and there is a bit of horror, which again are Danielewski's strengths. Words are cut up and sewn together again. This is a book worthy of the author of House of Leaves, a ghost story for grown-ups.
Somewhere in PoMo-Heaven, Derrida is pleased.
EDIT: Wow, am I one of the few guys who actually liked this? Strange. Sorry if I got anybody's hopes up.
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to spin the book every eight pages for little reward. If you try and crack it open with further analysis, you get only a turgid rotten mass inside. Despite all of its attempts at technical innovation, it has instead become very stale, a cliched love story.The Fifty Year Sword combines some of the elements which made MZD famous. There are two main quirks in this novella. The first is a set of five different colors of quotation marks, indicating one of five speakers. In the beginning, you may be tempted to splice and connect these interweaving narrative threads - see if they refer to each other, see if they are nested recursions - but as far as I can tell, they best form a narrative flow if you read them consecutively. Only rarely does he stray from linear action.
The second are the illustrations, referring to his favorite habit of combining the visual with the textual. Here, we have a series of knitted illustrations. These are very well-done, and I won't go into too much detail, but they interact easily with the text, as a supplement and as part of the story itself.
The plot concerns five orphans, a story teller, and a fifty-year sword, the nature of which I will not reveal. The story is somewhere between Ginsburg and Edgar Allen Poe. There is exploration, and there is a bit of horror, which again are Danielewski's strengths. Words are cut up and sewn together again. This is a book worthy of the author of House of Leaves, a ghost story for grown-ups.
Somewhere in PoMo-Heaven, Derrida is pleased.
EDIT: Wow, am I one of the few guys who actually liked this? Strange. Sorry if I got anybody's hopes up.
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LibraryThing member MarcusH
If you're familiar with Danielewski's work then you know that he prides himself on writing twisted fantasies that test the limits of typography. The Fifty Year Sword is arguably one of his easier reads to understand. The basic plot is that a shadowy storyteller arrives at a birthday party on
Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Wrong. The story is told through verse-like fragments of conversation that are supposed to be reported testimony from the orphans. The fragments are broken up and scattered throughout each page. The organization is guided by different colored quotation marks that represent each one of the orphans. At times the speakers can mid-thought, which creates a type of narrative chaos that can make the story hard to follow. The text is accompanied by images stitched by a team of artists to compliment the narrative in an, at times, abstract way.
Overall, the story is entertaining. It seems, however, that the experimental technique does not really enhance the story at all. I felt at times that it was simply experimental for the sake of being different.
On a side note, I've listened to an audio performance of the story and it is quite amazing at how the five different narrators blend together. This was much better as an auditory experience.
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Halloween night. He gathers a group of orphans together and tells a tale of vengeance that has dark ramifications.Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Wrong. The story is told through verse-like fragments of conversation that are supposed to be reported testimony from the orphans. The fragments are broken up and scattered throughout each page. The organization is guided by different colored quotation marks that represent each one of the orphans. At times the speakers can mid-thought, which creates a type of narrative chaos that can make the story hard to follow. The text is accompanied by images stitched by a team of artists to compliment the narrative in an, at times, abstract way.
Overall, the story is entertaining. It seems, however, that the experimental technique does not really enhance the story at all. I felt at times that it was simply experimental for the sake of being different.
On a side note, I've listened to an audio performance of the story and it is quite amazing at how the five different narrators blend together. This was much better as an auditory experience.
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LibraryThing member Djupstrom
I am not sure if I "got" this book. But I liked it...I think. It was a strange mix of storytelling, poetry, murder, and embroidery. Odd mix for sure. I bought another by Danielewski, so this should be interesting.
LibraryThing member TheAlternativeOne
The Fifty Year Sword
Mark Z. Danielewski
Hardcover
Pantheon, Random House
285 pages
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
ISBN: 978-0-307-90772-1
Mark Z. Danielewski does not write novels. He creates experimental visual art that morphs into and weaves through each of his brilliant stories. The playful and unique
Experiencing, or participating in, one of his stories (notice I did not say “reading”) is a unique entertainment. This is the third distinctive “piece of art” of his that I've read in the past few years and still, all I can think to say is that this is another totally amazing piece of creative genius. The Fifty Year Sword is not so much a linear novel as a patchwork piece of poetic dialogue that when stitched together creates a dark, unnatural, and malevolent story. Mr. Danielewski plays with words like a master poet and some of his creations are brilliant - "a sudden blue jay avirarity," "gratefullyaccepatating," "consecawence," "sputstuttersobbed," and “s/word.” These are only a few of the more mischievous phrases you’ll find here yet, in context, they flow into the story and feel as if they've always been part of the English language.
In addition to the manipulation of language and the compelling story the book is filled with colored line stitching, needle punching, embroidery, and fabric art - the main character is a seamstress - making The Fifty Year Sword not only a pleasure to read but visually pleasing to touch, view, and experience, as well.
The first twenty pages or so set the tone, describe the scene, and introduce the main characters but when a mysterious Story Teller arrives at a Halloween Party and begins to weave his cunning tale The Fifty Year Sword comes to life. Five children and two adults assemble to hear the entertainment provided by the host. The Story Teller speaks of his search for an uncommon weapon, though he never tells us why. No knife, rope, explosive, or gun will do. The weapon he needs has to be extraordinary. One day he meets a homeless man who tells him of a weapon maker of unusual skill who sells curious tools of destruction but “never for money.” The Story Teller begins his quest to find this mysterious artisan of arms because he knows this man has exactly what he seeks.
The Story Teller travels from the Valley of Salt, to the Forest of Falling Notes, to the Mountain of Manyone Paths, hunting for the uncommon weapon he so desperately covets. And when he finds the weapon maker, a man with no arms (pun intended?), he barters "A memory you have which would have outlived you" for a Fifty Year Sword which causes no physical damage until the last second of the fiftieth year to whoever is struck.
And the Story Teller, a “bad man with a black heart” has come to this party to kill....
Of course, I'll not spoil the best part of the story except to say that the circuitous ending which is somewhat expected happens in a completely unpredictable and surprising manner to an unsuspecting character.
File with: E. E. Cummings, blood and gore, word-play, Stephen King, experimental textile art, poetry, The Brothers Grimm, visual writing, and stitchery. (Did I really just say stitchery?)
5 out of 5 stars
The Alternative
Southeast Wisconsin
Mark Z. Danielewski
Hardcover
Pantheon, Random House
285 pages
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
ISBN: 978-0-307-90772-1
Mark Z. Danielewski does not write novels. He creates experimental visual art that morphs into and weaves through each of his brilliant stories. The playful and unique
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way he approaches every one of his books is remarkably inventive and what he creates is unlike any other writer working today. His other works, House of Leaves and Only Revolutions, have been characterized as visual writing or Ergodic literature and The Fifty Year Sword is no exception. Yet, if we strip away the word play, the colored words, quotes, and paragraphs, the book flipping, side-bars, stitchery, typography, and marginalia what we find at the core of every one of those books is an entertaining tale. And isn't that what we, as readers, ultimately crave? Experiencing, or participating in, one of his stories (notice I did not say “reading”) is a unique entertainment. This is the third distinctive “piece of art” of his that I've read in the past few years and still, all I can think to say is that this is another totally amazing piece of creative genius. The Fifty Year Sword is not so much a linear novel as a patchwork piece of poetic dialogue that when stitched together creates a dark, unnatural, and malevolent story. Mr. Danielewski plays with words like a master poet and some of his creations are brilliant - "a sudden blue jay avirarity," "gratefullyaccepatating," "consecawence," "sputstuttersobbed," and “s/word.” These are only a few of the more mischievous phrases you’ll find here yet, in context, they flow into the story and feel as if they've always been part of the English language.
In addition to the manipulation of language and the compelling story the book is filled with colored line stitching, needle punching, embroidery, and fabric art - the main character is a seamstress - making The Fifty Year Sword not only a pleasure to read but visually pleasing to touch, view, and experience, as well.
The first twenty pages or so set the tone, describe the scene, and introduce the main characters but when a mysterious Story Teller arrives at a Halloween Party and begins to weave his cunning tale The Fifty Year Sword comes to life. Five children and two adults assemble to hear the entertainment provided by the host. The Story Teller speaks of his search for an uncommon weapon, though he never tells us why. No knife, rope, explosive, or gun will do. The weapon he needs has to be extraordinary. One day he meets a homeless man who tells him of a weapon maker of unusual skill who sells curious tools of destruction but “never for money.” The Story Teller begins his quest to find this mysterious artisan of arms because he knows this man has exactly what he seeks.
The Story Teller travels from the Valley of Salt, to the Forest of Falling Notes, to the Mountain of Manyone Paths, hunting for the uncommon weapon he so desperately covets. And when he finds the weapon maker, a man with no arms (pun intended?), he barters "A memory you have which would have outlived you" for a Fifty Year Sword which causes no physical damage until the last second of the fiftieth year to whoever is struck.
And the Story Teller, a “bad man with a black heart” has come to this party to kill....
Of course, I'll not spoil the best part of the story except to say that the circuitous ending which is somewhat expected happens in a completely unpredictable and surprising manner to an unsuspecting character.
File with: E. E. Cummings, blood and gore, word-play, Stephen King, experimental textile art, poetry, The Brothers Grimm, visual writing, and stitchery. (Did I really just say stitchery?)
5 out of 5 stars
The Alternative
Southeast Wisconsin
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LibraryThing member Pauntley
The first thing to say about The Fifty Year Sword is that is a gorgeous object, even in its trade edition. Pantheon, who produced the book, describe themselves as its 'manufacturer' rather than as 'publisher'. The protagonist of the tale, Chintana, is a seamstress. The illustrations, which quite
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often take over the pages, are images of intricate machine-stitched arabesques and patterns. The centrefold stitching that binds the pages of the book, which appears every 30 pages or so, is a dazzling intermitted line of scarlet. The cover is a stitched pattern of the same dazzling scarlet thread. Danielewski's prose, often pared to one or two words on the left hand page, winds its way among these arabesques and patterns. Danielewski credits the machinists, members of his Atelier Z', in one of the final pages of The Fifty Year Sword. The patterns quite often carry the tale. The prose content is quite brief. I will not summarise the ghost story. In this book, form, style and presentation are central. It is best, I think, to find one's way into the tale through the layout and illustrations. Show Less
LibraryThing member amaraduende
Please, someone meet me at a cafe some drizzly morning and we'll reread this book together, write down all the questions we have afterwards, and then reread it and have interesting conversations.
LibraryThing member jen.e.moore
A rather delightful little story, with wonderful illustrations. I'd love to see it performed.
LibraryThing member tapestry100
Really more a concept than an actual story/book, Mark Z. Danielewski's The Fifty Year Sword is a horror story, of sorts. The story is told from the point of view of five children, in one long stream of conscious dialogue, with the only distinction about which child is speaking made through the
The story, as it were, is simple enough (and is really nothing more than a glorified short story drawn out into a 280+ page book). The five children are at a Halloween party when a stranger arrives carrying a long black box. The story the stranger tells is of the Fifty Year Sword, and his journey to acquire it. What follows is a display of the power of the sword, much to the dismay of one of the party goers. And that's it. The story the stranger tells is vaguely atmospheric, but the ending is reasonably predictable given the outcome of the strangers journey and his story.
About the length of the book. As I stated earlier, it's a glorified short story, and all the text in the book is presented on the left-hand page only. If there is some significance to this placement, it went above my head. I'd be willing to bet there aren't more than 40 words per page, and pages with that much text are few and far between. This was released as an ebook as well, and I think that the ebook had animated graphics and music accompanying it, so I think this was meant to be viewed on an ereader as opposed to something actually physically published. The story has also been performed lived, on Halloween, as a shadow show, and I have a feeling this is where the true impact of the story would be felt, but presented in this static, printed format, the story falls short.
I don't think I'd actually recommend this book to anyone except those that enjoy uniquely published works that have physical distinction that sets them apart from other physical books, which is the only reason I'm keeping this in my library.
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color of the quotation marks set around each sentence. It almost reads as one large, run-on paragraph, so it would seem that the children almost speak in a collective, each continuing the sentence from the previous speaker. I gave up fairly quickly trying to determine who was speaking and just read through the story as if it were being told from just one person.The story, as it were, is simple enough (and is really nothing more than a glorified short story drawn out into a 280+ page book). The five children are at a Halloween party when a stranger arrives carrying a long black box. The story the stranger tells is of the Fifty Year Sword, and his journey to acquire it. What follows is a display of the power of the sword, much to the dismay of one of the party goers. And that's it. The story the stranger tells is vaguely atmospheric, but the ending is reasonably predictable given the outcome of the strangers journey and his story.
About the length of the book. As I stated earlier, it's a glorified short story, and all the text in the book is presented on the left-hand page only. If there is some significance to this placement, it went above my head. I'd be willing to bet there aren't more than 40 words per page, and pages with that much text are few and far between. This was released as an ebook as well, and I think that the ebook had animated graphics and music accompanying it, so I think this was meant to be viewed on an ereader as opposed to something actually physically published. The story has also been performed lived, on Halloween, as a shadow show, and I have a feeling this is where the true impact of the story would be felt, but presented in this static, printed format, the story falls short.
I don't think I'd actually recommend this book to anyone except those that enjoy uniquely published works that have physical distinction that sets them apart from other physical books, which is the only reason I'm keeping this in my library.
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LibraryThing member yougotamber
I really enjoyed this. Not only is it fun to read, the author does what he does best with his unique writing style. This reads like poetry and is mixed with the back of cross stitching making it literary art. I can see why many people would be frustrated reading this, but knowing ahead of time the
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unconventional writing style made it quite enjoyable for me. Now i just need the time to tackle the rest of his other book "House of Leaves", but i think that will have to wait for my next time off work. Show Less
LibraryThing member alclay
Very cool.
LibraryThing member MeganAngela
Years ago, after hearing an immeasurable amount of hype, I bought Mark Z. Danielewski's iconic tome, House of Leaves. To this day I have not yet sat myself down to read it, mostly due to the fact that the novel looks more like a textbook than the sort of thing you'd read for pleasure. So when I
As with MZD's other books, The Fifty Year Sword is an experiment in literature. Every thing from the typeset to the arrangement of the words on the page is an integral part in crafting his writing. This book in particular plays with language in ways that are absolutely mind-bending with his extreme use of portmanteaus and kennings. In fact, this book reads much like the epic poems that kennings are born from. And, of course, one can't write a review of this novella without mentioning the gorgeous stitching throughout that helps you to visualize the story in a whole other medium. For me, however, that is where the positives end.
Overall, I found the plot itself to be lacking and felt that some of the visual devices, namely the color-coded quotation marks, did not add anything extra to the story. Look, I love weird, kooky, experimental books. The Hike by Drew Magary was one of my favorite books last year in all of its weird, existential glory. But The Fifty Year Sword, despite being quite a short tale, felt like a slog and the ending could be seen coming a mile away.
I give Mark Z. Danielewski credit for his ability to take risks. Perhaps I would have liked the story better if I had seen it in its intended shadow play format. I think that the Greek chorus feel of the five voices would work much better in person than in writing. But as a book, it felt like too much gimmick for too little pay off. 2 out of 5 stars.
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noticed The Fifty Year Sword on the shelf at my local library and saw that its size was much more reasonable, I quickly added it to my stack of books to be checked out.As with MZD's other books, The Fifty Year Sword is an experiment in literature. Every thing from the typeset to the arrangement of the words on the page is an integral part in crafting his writing. This book in particular plays with language in ways that are absolutely mind-bending with his extreme use of portmanteaus and kennings. In fact, this book reads much like the epic poems that kennings are born from. And, of course, one can't write a review of this novella without mentioning the gorgeous stitching throughout that helps you to visualize the story in a whole other medium. For me, however, that is where the positives end.
Overall, I found the plot itself to be lacking and felt that some of the visual devices, namely the color-coded quotation marks, did not add anything extra to the story. Look, I love weird, kooky, experimental books. The Hike by Drew Magary was one of my favorite books last year in all of its weird, existential glory. But The Fifty Year Sword, despite being quite a short tale, felt like a slog and the ending could be seen coming a mile away.
I give Mark Z. Danielewski credit for his ability to take risks. Perhaps I would have liked the story better if I had seen it in its intended shadow play format. I think that the Greek chorus feel of the five voices would work much better in person than in writing. But as a book, it felt like too much gimmick for too little pay off. 2 out of 5 stars.
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LibraryThing member jonfaith
I have only myself and where I've been and what I found and what I now bring. And it will frighten you.
This a fascinating/frustrating endeavor.
The book is beautiful -- as an object.
Au Contraire
The slippery meanings of the words within this book are elusive and possibly overwrought. There is a
This a fascinating/frustrating endeavor.
The book is beautiful -- as an object.
Au Contraire
The slippery meanings of the words within this book are elusive and possibly overwrought. There is a
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gleaming poetry in MZD, there's just a poverty of such in The Fifty Year Sword. Show Less
LibraryThing member devilwrites
The premise: ganked from BN.com: In this story set in East Texas, a local seamstress named Chintana finds herself responsible for five orphans who are not only captivated by a storyteller’s tale of vengeance but by the long black box he sets before them. As midnight approaches, the box is opened,
My Rating: 7 - Good Read
I was tempted to rate this a "6 - Worth Reading with Reservations," but honestly, one should always read Danielewski's work with a great number of reservations. Not because he's a bad writer, but because he's a very intentional, deliberate writer, one that demands the full and total attention of his readers. Pity the reader who stumbles onto Danielewski blindly, who does not know what they're really in for. I think, with this author, that preparation is half the battle: once you know what you're in for, you can make sure you're in the right mood to read him, unless you're already a hard-core fan and such concerns do not apply to you.
The Fifty Year Sword was a quite enjoyable gateway into Danielewski's work. I'm no stranger to prose-poetry in novel format (if you haven't yet read Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow, you should really correct that), and this was a breeze to get through once I picked up the rhythm and format, and it didn't take long. I'd warn many readers that it may be better to get this from the library first: if you're not already a collector of this author, you might not feel the hardcover price is worth your money, simply because the story itself is told only on the left pages, leaving many of the right pages completely blank, or allowing for various illustrations. Also, be prepared for words that are mashed up in ways that aren't common, as well as intentional misspellings. The latter was rather interesting, because at times it brought the accent of the characters to life. Other times, my eyes glazed over them, reading the word for what it was and not actually sounding it out in my head.
This is why I think an audiobook of this would be fabulous. Especially an audiobook in five voices.
Spoilers, yay or nay?: Nay. This is not really the type of book/story that you can really spoil, so feel free to keep reading the full review, which may be found at my blog. Comments and discussion are most welcome, and if you want to chat, just click the link below to go directly to the full review!
REVIEW: Mark Z. Danielewski's THE FIFTY YEAR SWORD
Happy Reading!
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a fateful dare is made, and the children as well as Chintana come face to face with the consequences of a malice retold and now foretold.My Rating: 7 - Good Read
I was tempted to rate this a "6 - Worth Reading with Reservations," but honestly, one should always read Danielewski's work with a great number of reservations. Not because he's a bad writer, but because he's a very intentional, deliberate writer, one that demands the full and total attention of his readers. Pity the reader who stumbles onto Danielewski blindly, who does not know what they're really in for. I think, with this author, that preparation is half the battle: once you know what you're in for, you can make sure you're in the right mood to read him, unless you're already a hard-core fan and such concerns do not apply to you.
The Fifty Year Sword was a quite enjoyable gateway into Danielewski's work. I'm no stranger to prose-poetry in novel format (if you haven't yet read Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow, you should really correct that), and this was a breeze to get through once I picked up the rhythm and format, and it didn't take long. I'd warn many readers that it may be better to get this from the library first: if you're not already a collector of this author, you might not feel the hardcover price is worth your money, simply because the story itself is told only on the left pages, leaving many of the right pages completely blank, or allowing for various illustrations. Also, be prepared for words that are mashed up in ways that aren't common, as well as intentional misspellings. The latter was rather interesting, because at times it brought the accent of the characters to life. Other times, my eyes glazed over them, reading the word for what it was and not actually sounding it out in my head.
This is why I think an audiobook of this would be fabulous. Especially an audiobook in five voices.
Spoilers, yay or nay?: Nay. This is not really the type of book/story that you can really spoil, so feel free to keep reading the full review, which may be found at my blog. Comments and discussion are most welcome, and if you want to chat, just click the link below to go directly to the full review!
REVIEW: Mark Z. Danielewski's THE FIFTY YEAR SWORD
Happy Reading!
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LibraryThing member TobinElliott
I'll fully admit that, within the first few pages, I fully expected to mark this as a DNF. But, by the time I was about a quarter of the way in, it managed to wrap its wiley, ninja-like tendrils around me and pull me in.
And, in the end, though I'm still not a fan of either how it was written, or
Enough that, for the first time, I may consider actually reading House of Leaves now.
And, in the end, though I'm still not a fan of either how it was written, or
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how it was presented in book form, I quite enjoyed the story. Enough that, for the first time, I may consider actually reading House of Leaves now.
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LibraryThing member Fiddleback_
Decent story. Odd presentation.
LibraryThing member dogboi
I've read both the hardcover and the iBooks version of The Fifty Year Sword. The iBooks version contains animation, music and sound effects (the kindle version, apparently, does not). Generally, I would consider this a gimmick, but in the case of this particular book, it worked. The music and sound
This is a short read (took me less than an hour), but well worth my time. I won't reveal anything in this review. There's a storyteller and five orphans, and the tale the storyteller spins is frightening and wonderful. Books rarely affect me so deeply on so many levels.
If you can get the iBooks version, I highly recommend it. If not, then the hardcover (with the stitched pages) is the next best thing.
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added to the atmosphere immensely, and the animations were interesting. This is a short read (took me less than an hour), but well worth my time. I won't reveal anything in this review. There's a storyteller and five orphans, and the tale the storyteller spins is frightening and wonderful. Books rarely affect me so deeply on so many levels.
If you can get the iBooks version, I highly recommend it. If not, then the hardcover (with the stitched pages) is the next best thing.
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Original publication date
2005-10-31