Customer Reviews

Black Wine

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got this book as a birthday present from my sister.
As soon as I was done reading it (with that shuddering pleasure that only the absolute best books give you), I passed it back to her to read... and I still haven't got it back, because when she was done, she gave it to her boyfriend to read (someone who is not the biggest fantasy fan), and he won't read the very end, because "But once I finish it, it'll be over!"
I'm considering buying another copy, to re-read it and pass it on again to someone else.

It's amazing that 'Black Wine' is a first novel. The characters are complex enough to fully immerse yourself in their lives. The world is not some faux-medieval wish-fulfillment daydream, but a real, gritty and harsh land - that still somehow has the feel of one of your deepest dreams.
Recommended for fans of Ursula LeGuin, Margaret Atwood, and Sheri S. Tepper. (But having said that, I feel I should add that the "feminist" undercurrent of the book is neither distracting, nor does it leave you with that nasty "agenda" taste in your mouth.)

(oh, and they play Scrabble! Yay! (as Scrabble fanatics, both me & my sister got a big kick out of that!)

I have just finished this book- and I feel very lucky to have found it. With so much mediocre to good fiction and/or sf/fantasy around, Black Wine reminded me how enjoyable and transforming a really good book can be. I am reminded of Ursula le Guin- perhaps Russ. It is slightly confusing at the beginning, as it jumps between characters in the manner of a connected series of short stories. But I was delighted as I read on and realised exactly what Dorsey was doing. As for plot/ character/setting- set in a far future, or other world, on a continent with very different cultures in different regions. THere are the sailors, who fly the sky-ships (dirigibles) and have gene tech, allowing same sex couples or families of three parents etc to have children. There is the idyllic mountains, where people share everything, but then there is the SOuth, where no one touches one another, and a mother helps her toddler up after a fall with the end of her broom. And then there is the land ruled over by an evil despot, where slaves have their tongues cut out, and sadism, incest and violence is the norm. The book is first class, superbly and consistently written. i see from one of the reviews on this page that Black Wine may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I am stumped as to why! I think that the more people read this wonderful book- the better!

I loved this book! It was a challenge, but a facinating one. I thought of this as a mystery-who was related to whom and what it meant for everyone. I would have to disagree with the reviewer who wanted to know the "Point." I think this book highlights something that eventually confronts everyone, their past and how to deal (or not) with it.

The truth about 'Black Wine' --

This book reads both like a story woven carelessly from dream-logic and like a story masterfully and carefully crafted. The writing style is like a piece of modern art: sometimes abstract and filled with strange brevity. The issues of the story are raw, emotional, and distinctly adult: feminism, dominance and submission, sex, power.

'Black Wine' is not a "fun" escapist storybook -- it is a highly stylized and challenging piece of literature that invites you to read closely and see deeply. If you seek challenging literary fiction, I highly recommend this book to you.

Our SF reading group which has a special focus on books that challenge gender roles and issues considered this our most exciting book this year. It is an intense reading experience, layered with difficult questions about power and sexuality, the potential of community, and the possibility of transforming one's identity through language. If you enjoy contemporary fiction, especially fiction that plays with ideas of identity, you will enjoy this "fantasy." Lovers of the most recent work by LeGuin and Nicola Griffith will find this interesting too.

Funny, I liked this book at first. I was a little thrown off (as I was intended to be) by shifts between characters and time-frames. My usual approach when I encounter this kind of writing is to put myself at the author's mercy, hoping things will be tied together and that the end result will be worth the discomfort of reading something written this way. Well, the ends get tied together, but I was disappointed with the whole. I felt as if the author kept trying to impress me with how very "artistic" her writing could be, while failing to tell me a story that meritted this kind of treatment. "Black Wine" tells the story of four generations of women trying to choose their own destinies or avoid responsibility, depending on how you view the plot. Yes, there is a fair amount of sex, all of it integral to the plot and characterizations. But while the characters initially intrigued me, they all seemed to fizzle out sooner or later. A more minor gripe: the book is being heavily marketed to a U.S. audience, but its editorial conventions don't conform to U.S. standards--I got really tired of seeing the term "no one" hyphenated. On a literary level, the editing failed to pull this book together and help it move beyond the realm of pretentiousness. "Black Wine" isn't a terrible book, but it didn't seem to offer a whole lot of insight into anything except the author's ego. It caught my attention, but it didn't seduce me or give me anything new to think about.

The truth about 'Black Wine' --

This book reads both like a story woven carelessly from dream-logic and like a story masterfully and carefully crafted. The writing style is like a piece of modern art: sometimes abstract and filled with strange brevity. The issues of the story are raw, emotional, and distinctly adult: feminism, dominance and submission, sex, power.

'Black Wine' is not a "fun" escapist storybook -- it is a highly stylized and challenging piece of literature that invites you to read closely and see deeply. If you seek challenging literary fiction, I highly recommend this book to you.

All in all I think this book was a good read. I am used to books that are a little more wordy and more difficult to read, so this book was a breeze in that respect. Once you get into the story the pages just fly by. You just need to get past the first 75-100 pages for it all to start to make sense. I really enjoyed Dorsey's ability to be discriptive without the overkill I have gotten from other such authors.

The style of bouncing from past to present and in between characters reminds me of the writing style of Quentin Tarantino, of course in the end it all makes sense. I think if this story was told any other way it wouldn't have been so interesting and thought provoking.

I think this book brings out some great emotional feelings in the reader, you can almost feel what each character is going through. Enjoyable. The only reason I give this book 4 out of 5 stars, is I think she could have done a little more with the ending, I would have loved to see this stroy continue a little more. It seemed to me that just when it was getting really interesting it ended, kind of left you hanging, wanting more. But then again, that may have been Dorsey's intention. It definately makes you think.

I note a recommendation for fans of LeGuin and the like above. Well, I'm not a big LeGuin fan (I read the Earthsea trilogy in high school), and I loathe Atwood, but I loved this book.

Recommendation? Read it. It's amazing. The only fantasy from the '90s that I can think of that compares at all is Brust's Agyar, which is written by one of the best, and most definitely is not a first novel. Out of first novels, this book stands out.

I hope she writes more. All I can say is, The Hobbit was a first novel, and this book is too.

I really do adore this book; it's one of my favorites. I love the author's prose, her juxtaposition of poetic language with sharp, spare description. The mysterious and mundane are wound together in this book until it's difficult to tell which is which - to me, one of the primary themes of the book. It's something to read deeply and puzzle over.

That said, it's definitely not for everyone! The story can be hard to follow at times, with points of view wandering around at irregular intervals. Many of the important characters lack names, and time periods are uncertain. If you like stories with a clear beginning-middle-end, and you're more into plot than character or setting, this is not a book for you.

As other reviewers have noted, there's a fair amount of sexual content in the book. I found it generally tastefully done, but of course people's tastes vary, and I'm more comfortable with matter-of-factly graphic depictions of sex than many. It definitely pushes at the boundaries of what many would consider acceptable and explores the range of human sexual and romantic expression. I would not consider this book erotica; the sex isn't depicted erotically, but as a meaningful act of connection. The meaning, of course, varies: some of the scenes are entirely horrific, sexually and otherwise. I would say that this work is not for the squeamish.

If you don't mind being swept up in a dream and unsure of what it is you're supposed to be thinking, feeling, or learning, the book is simply amazing. Come to it in ignorance; pretend you don't have any idea what a book is supposed to be; it breaks all the rules about what books are supposed to be in any case. If you're willing to trust Candas Jane Dorsey to take you on a journey woven of interlocking stories through a complex, richly textured, completely impossible world, you'll enjoy Black Wine.