Customer Reviews

Corbenic

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

 

 

It's hard to know what exactly to make of this book. I polished it off quickly in one night, though I'm not sure if it was so much that I enjoyed it as much as I just wanted to get it over with. The story is incredibly surreal and disjointed, it's almost difficult to follow. The plot is simple enough, but there are certain parts that feel pointless and certain essential things that felt entirely skimmed over. Cal as a character definately undergoes some major transformations, but sometimes it's a little bit difficult to understand why or how he changed so much.

However, the surreal-ness of the story gives it a certain je ne sais quoi. It's a little bit unclear about whether the story is totally supernatural or whether half of this is in Cal's mind.

This book will definately be enjoyed of fan's who like Green Angel or Indigo by Hoffman or the Weezie Bat books. It's written in that odd style. And of course King Arthur fans.

Overall though, I enjoyed it. When my high school history teacher told us we'd need to know the King Arthur stories to have a full appriciation for British literature, she was right. This story does an excellent job of twisting the ancient leagends of King Arthur into modern day context. It's a lot of fun to recognize characters and know their stories.

After a childhood spent taking care of his alchoholic mother, Cal finally gets a chance to leave home. He's going to live with his uncle, a successful accountant who has offered Cal a job and a place to live. But Cal gets off the train at the wrong stop, and finds himself in the middle of nowhere, in a place called Corbenic. In Corbenic, Cal stays at a mysterious hotel called the Castle, and dines with the proprietor, a handicapped man named Bron who appears to be the Wounded King or Fisher King of the Grail legend. At the dinner, Cal sees a vision, but denies having seen it, a denial which dooms him to a path of suffering. Before Cal can find peace, he must learn to confront the pain in his life, to forgive and to seek forgiveness, and to make choices about the life he wants to lead.

Corbenic is an intense, dark, and deeply emotional book. Catherine Fisher does a remarkable job of juxtaposing the ancient with the modern in unusual ways, such as the bohemian reenactors who may or may not be the knights of King Arthur's court. Cal is not a very likeable character, at least not at first; he seems shallow and selfish and even cruel to his mother. But as the book progresses and the layers are peeled back, you see the deep emotional scars that Cal tries to hide, and the pain that he copes with by trying to control everything in his life.

As with Fisher's other books, the writing is highly poetic and full of symbolism. For example, in some ways, Cal is the wounded king, although his wounds are internal rather than external. In fact, the whole internal/external dichotomy is never resolved, leaving open the question of whether Corbenic is real or an internal symbol of Cal's pain and healing. But in the long run, it doesn't matter, and Corbenic makes the Grail legend real and relevant, and not just some dusty story about ancient knights.

Corbenic is probably too intense for most children. There's nothing overly frightening, but there is tragedy, and the emotions, particularly in Cal's relationship with his mother, will be disturbing to those not developmentally ready to deal with them. But the dark, emotional nature of the book will probably appeal to many teens.

Corbenic is, on the whole, a good book. It's not a great book, but it doesn't fall to the depths of terrible either. The writing is highly stylized and filled with symbolism that can be hard to catch for those uninitiated into the Arthurian mythology.

The biggest failure of the book is the lack of sympathy generated by Cal (who is, if you aren't familiar with the myths, a modern day Percival http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival). Despite his rotten childhood of hiding in closets from his drunken mother, his attitude is selfish, degrading, and overall grating on the nerves for most readers. He ACTS the victim, and almost plays it up, without displaying any sort of redeeming qualities that would make us feel sorry for him. Even later on, after some changes, we're still left with the feeling that he hasn't switched his focus away from himself. The reader is left feeling bad for Cal's mother, not the protagonist.

The book isn't all bad though. If you like deciphering symbolism and comparing the modern day plot with the mythos it is based on, it can be an enjoyable read. It would, in my opinion, make a good movie because of the visuals it invokes. Just don't go looking for characters to like, and you'll be fine.

I picked this book up from the library based on an award it received from the Mythopoeic Society ([...]). It is a well written retelling (apparently) of the Grail/Graal story. (remembering so little of the Grail story, I'm no judge of whether it's faithful to the tradition, but it has an authentic feel to it...and it's inspired me to pick up my copy of Howard Pyle's Grail story again after many years).

The reviewer who gave this story one star confuses a shallow character, on the one hand, with the shallowness that we all carry and are tested to grow out of. Cal is an unappealing character (he is supposed to be) who is severely tested, and he does grow through his callous turning away from the Fisher King, his mother, the character Shadow, and others. He finds that his selfishness is a betrayal of friendship, sonship, and finds a way through despair to hope and victory, with much help.

The reviewer who said this was probably too intense for younger children is correct. There are lengthy passages in which Cal is losing touch with reality, entering into a dark, scary world with no bearings. Yes for teens, no for those younger, would be my assessment.

There is some beautiful use of language in this story. Well worth a read.

Wow. I didn't know there could be a book this horrible. Maybe it is because I am not familiar with many Arthurian myths. If you are, you may like this book. Me, however, I hate it. The character Cal, the main character, is unlikeable, dodgy, and rather cruel, in my eyes. I cannot imagine connecting with him on any stupid level. I can't believe how unbelieveably bad a character he is. I threw this book down after 90 pages. I hate it when people say they forced theirselves to finish a book, even if they hate it, but I did. Don't know why. I guess I supposed the ending would be better.

My main problem with this book is the characterization. It is shallow and makes the characters seem shallow, which, in fact, they ARE. Cal is ambitious, yes, a respectable trait, but I don't undrstand what he's ambitious FOR. He wants to own a bunch of businesses, have a nice house, and loads of money. Yeah, we all want that, but who wants to read about it? Bo-ring. It is not a good story make. :-(

I had high hopes for this book, because I like Catherine Fisher, though now I am rather disappointed. Ugh, I can't get over the character Cal. How boring a kid is he? Uh, EXTREMELY.

But hey, maybe if you understand Arthurian myths you'll buy this book. But otherwise, and if you despise shallow characters, don't read this.

*Can you put zero stars? I wish you could.*