The Labyrinth

by Catherynne M. Valente

Book Overview

Here Monsters are hidden ...

A lyrical anti-quest through aconscious maze without center, borders, or escape--a dark pilgrim's progressthrough a landscape of vicious Angels, plague houses, crocodile-prophets, tragicchess-sets, and the mind of an unraveling woman, driven on by the mocking guidewho seeks to destroy as much as save.

Enter the world of the Labyrinth, where Doors do not wait to be opened, but hunt you in the night. This isZarathustra...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1894815653
• ISBN13: 9781894815659
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Wildside Press
• Length: 184 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.8"
• Age Range: 16 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 11 and higher

Customer Reviews

Beautiful, creative, and abstract

I really enjoyed Catherynne Valente's book Palimpsest, as well as the short story she contributed to Troll's Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales. So I was eager to read more of her works. I am so glad I did, I absolutely loved this book, it read more like a gothic epic poem than an actually book but was absolute enrapturing. The content is very dreamy and may not be for all readers; those readers who don't enjoy abstract stories and poetry should probably stick with something else. This book tells the story of a girl stuck in a Labyrinth. She is a Wanderer and wanders through the Labyrinth fighting madness the whole way. She complete various tasks and meets strange creatures all in a quest to escape the Labyrinth. She is constantly trying to outrun Doors, that threaten to devour here. This book reads like a crazy dream. At some times you get caught up the beautiful and poignant descriptions and loose the storyline for a bit, but Valente always tugs you back to the story at hand. I can't say enough how beautiful, artistic, and wonderfully abstract the language throughout this novel is; I absolutely loved it. There are times where you can get a bit confused about what is happening, most of these times coincide with the dream-like periods of madness that the main character goes through. The first madness period had me befuddled, but after the second bit of madness I figured out what was going on and then was struck by how cleverly Valente is representing this character's insanity. The story snaps back to a more traditional form as the character meets up with and is forced to converse with various strange creatures in the Labyrinth. These portions of the story are written just as beautifully but less abstractly and take the reader through a more traditional fairy tale like plot. I was struck by how this story reminded me both of The Jabberwocky (in the somewhat made-up words that were used throughtou) and also of Alice in Wonderland (as the main character struggles through a world that doesn't make sense). I love different things and beautifully dark stories and this book was both of those things in spades. That is not to say this story will be for everyone. If you don't like poetry or abstractness in your stories I wouldn't read this book. A lot of the story is woven of analogies and words that don't make clear-cut sense. If you are the type of person who likes absolutes and well-defined stories and characters this probably won't be your cup of tea. I can see how this story and the writing style would be just plain too strange for some folks. Overall a beautiful, creative, and different read that I found to be exquisite. Valente is quickly turning into one of those authors that can do no wrong in my eyes. I feel like everything I read from her is strange, wonderful and absolute golden.

Another winner from Valente.

Catherynne M. Valente, The Labyrinth (Prime, 2003) I'm not sure there's anything I can say about Catherynne M. Valente's writing that I haven't already said. Which gives the irony of Valente's first novel being my fifth review of her work a little extra added piquancy. Here's a fresh, new voice in fiction, and I've already told you all about how great that fresh new voice is in my reviews of Yume No Hon: The Book of Dreams (her second novel) and The Grass-Cutting Sword (her third). Yeah, I didn't get round to reading this one till later, more fool me. This one gives us a nameless narrator (often compared to Alice in Wonderland, though by my estimation it's the Alice of American McGee's videogame or Svankmajer's brilliant film, not the one originally concocted by Carroll) trapped in a labyrinth-- of her own devising? One can never tell-- and the oddments she meets as she traverses it. It's a quest narrative, but a quest narrative turned quite on its head, where the hero doesn't have any inkling of the goal, the collected detritus of the meetings with helpful entities seems to have no value whatsoever, and no good deed goes unpunished. It's a tough life. The plot, though, is not the reason to read this, as it never is with a Valente novel; you read Valente for the richness of the writing, the startling images that somehow never stretch the bounds of believability no matter how outrageous they get, the tempering and tweaking of old stories and mythic types that have been begging for such for centuries, if only we could hear it. Valente is one of those who can, and should be revered for same. *****

Absolutely Gorgeous

In The Labyrinth, Valente weaves not just a tapestry of words, but a flying carpet taking the reader to previously unknown high-altitude flights of fancy. The ever-changing landscapes provide a backdrop for a modern epic poem of unparalelled beauty. From lobster-clawed key makers to angelic fishermen each door holds something new. The text reads like a fever dream, pulling the reader out of the banality of the real world and into a twisting dreamscape. If you love epic fantasy or epic poetry then The Labyrinth is a must have for your collection.

Poetic, amazing, and deep.

In her debut novel, "The Labyrinth," Catherynne M. Valente has set out at once to define her own work, and to redefine the form. "The Labyrinth" reads more like an epic, surrealist poem, or an obscure Eastern religious text than it does a novel. The richness of the imagery, and the depth of thought injected into these words should bear the warning label "concentrated, take only in small doses." I believe it would be doing this work a disservice to read it in one sitting, though this might be tempting. Rather than being dragged from chapter to chapter, if chapters are what the breaks actually represent, by cliff-hanging real events, the reader is caught by the leading and trailing edges of visions. Endless spiraling roads, decision brought to form as character, aggressive doors that hunt the traveler, rather than waiting passively to be tried, or bypassed. The protagonist morphs before the reader's eyes from goddess to slave and back again in a sometimes erotic, sometimes intensely symbolic, and always intriguing journey through a maze of poetic imagery. Sometimes in charge of her own fate, sometimes the whimsy of greater powers that sometimes turn out to be herself, your guide through surreality has fed upon the Rose Cross and is all direction, contains all direction - and is lost. While I doubt this work will appeal to a mainstream audience, it is an intensely powerful debut. The work is introspective, and yet, the lens of that introspection turns on the reader in unexpected ways, much as the doors in the Labyrinth itself turn on the protagonist. Lewis Carroll intrudes with rabbits and philosophical statements that blend and melt back into the landscape with an elegance that makes you wonder if Mr. Carroll himself - or the white rabbit of his construction, might not have indeed walked the trails of The Labyrinth, finding guidance and confusion on those dark roads before departing through their own doors, into their own insanities and inanities. This singularly lyrical novel is highly recommended for dark evenings and reflection, and while its classification as a novel may remain in question, the impact it will have, and the memories it will cause to linger in the corners of your mind, will not. Highly recommended.

The Labyrinth

I have finished The Labyrinth by Cathrynne M. Valente. I devoured it, like a Door. It was beautiful, a lyrical epic poem in prose. The language was amazing, it gave me a tingly feeling in my spine, and in my throat. I know some who might have thought it was excessive, but this story could only have been told in language such as that. An ordinary story demands ordinary language, and this is no ordinary story. It's an extraordinary journey through psychologically charged image after image. downdowndowndowndown I highly recommend this book, for anyone who loves the English language, and the myriad of ways in which it can be used. I recommend this book for anyone who loves mythology, and I'm going right away to email my mythology professor to tell him he should read it, too. I recommend this book for anyone who loves things that are out of the ordinary, because this book is extraordinary. I warn you, once you read this book, your perception of reality won't be the same again. Life will seem dull and grey compared to the vibrant visions and characters that Valente describes. Hoo.