Customer Reviews

Moonwise

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

No doubt one man's cloud is another man's clod, but that Publisher's Weekly review seems particularly misleading and tonedeaf about "Moonwise." Look at some other evaluations of the book:

"Moonwise remarkably attempts to compose an entire long fantasy at a pitch and density of language reminiscent of Gerard Manley Hopkins . . . . Greer Gilman's deep knowledge of English etymology (including dialectal variations) charges every word with all its possible meanings . . . . Moonwise is a work of inexhaustible richness." -Encyclopedia of Fantasy

"Greer Gilman is a writer like no one else. Many try to employ the matter of myth and folktale, but their tongues are inadequate-Gilman can employ words as the bards of Ireland did, to make realities, and she does it handily, and over and over. Moonwise doesn't resemble a work of the past age-it is the past age come back new, in its clothes and its language and its dark riddling heart. Moonwise simply has no peers."-John Crowley

"Moonwise is an amazing book, a work of genius. It deserves to stand beside Lud-in-the-Mist or the writings of Lord Dunsany as a truly original seminal classic. And yet the most remarkable thing about it is that, amidst its intense and serious magic and its astonishing use of words, it causes you to laugh aloud-quite suddenly, taken unawares by an outrageous pun or an ingenious one-liner. I love this book and admire its nature magic more every time I read it."-Diana Wynne Jones

"There are some books that seem to have existed forever. That when you find them for the first time you are only rediscovering something you had lost, long ago. Hope Mirrlees's Lud-in-the-Mist is one of these; David Lindsay's Voyage to Arcturus is a second; Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is another. Green Ilene Gilman's Moonwise is one of that company. It does not take you to where the dreams start. It is where the dreams start."-John Clute

If you look at the copyright date for the review, it's 1991 -- this is a special hardback reissue by Prime Books. It's a shame Amazon.com couldn't find a more up-to-date review for this edition.

This is a difficult and gorgeous book. It's written in a style both literary and dialect, and readers who don't like poetry may not enjoy it. At times the plot is hard to follow -- I think I got it, mostly, on my second read.

Ariane and Sylvie become lost in a world which I suspect is meant to be more a part of our own world, an inner part, than an "other universe". Symbolism, dualities, and images from ballads fill this world. The symbolism is deeply powerful, because at its root it reflects natural themes: the turning of the seasons, the rise and fall of forest life, the orbit of the moon. I'm not at all sure, as some readers have thought, that the women failing in their quest would lead to dead perpetual winter *only* in the "otherworld". European folkloric material also enriches the text immeasurably. However, readers without any familiarity with the images and the folklore may find themselves swamped. This is not a book that explains itself.

Despite the admitted inaccessibility of the work (I did wish at some point the author would simply define a hallows), the characters are appealing, particularly the wandering "Mad Tom" persona, and there is humor to be found.

It's not a book for everyone, but I'm very glad that it exists.

I read over the other reviews and have a secret to share with you about this book. It's a book that should be read out loud. The poetry, the rhythms of this book are wonderful. And what emerges is something quite different from when you read it silently to yourself.

I attempted to read this book quite a while ago. I saw the cover, read the back cover, and was intrigued. It promised to be a mystical, magical, imaginative tale and so I bought it. I began reading it, and although the writing style was somewhat convoluted and disjointed, I persevered through it, determined to read it. I got a little beyond where Sophie vanishes and the mysterious gnome-type character enters the story. As I continued to read, however, I found myself really struggling with and becoming more and more frustrated with what the author was trying to say. I began to get really annoyed with the her insistence on being as obtuse, hallucinogenic, and completely dysphasic in "communicating" a story as is possible.
To be fair, at times the cadence and rhythm of the words themselves do carry you along, but after a while I found it to be a strain to follow a story where not that much seemed to be happening. Poetry and the beauty of language is one thing, being maddeningly obscure is another. This book was like a bad acid trip. I agree with Green Melusine. If you are absolutely determined to read Moonwise, make sure you have a bottle of Excedrin with you. If you try and fail to finish it, don't feel bad. It would be akin to feeling bad about not being able to ride out shizophrenia.

Moonwise grabbed me the first time I read it 7 years ago. I read it probably half a dozen times in the first year and have not missed a year since. One reason I kept re-reading it was to try to understand it, and I understand more each time. It feels at once utterly foreign and deeply, personally familiar. The visual imagery is vivid and dreamlike. If I don't read it at least once each year (starting just before Winter Solstice) I feel out of balance the whole year. It speaks in the language of the subconscious and racial memory. It renews my spirit each time I read it.

No doubt one man's cloud is another man's clod, but that Publisher's Weekly view seems particularly misleading and tonedeaf to "Moonwise." (...) Look at some other evaluations of the book:

"Moonwise remarkably attempts to compose an entire long fantasy at a pitch and density of language reminiscent of Gerard Manley Hopkins . . . . GIG's deep knowledge of English etymology (including dialectal variations) charges every word with all its possible meanings . . . . Moonwise is a work of inexhaustible richness." -Encyclopedia of Fantasy

"Greer Gilman is a writer like no one else. Many try to employ the matter of myth and folktale, but their tongues are inadequate-Gilman can employ words as the bards of Ireland did, to make realities, and she does it handily, and over and over. Moonwise doesn't resemble a work of the past age-it is the past age come back new, in its clothes and its language and its dark riddling heart. Moonwise simply has no peers."-John Crowley

"Moonwise is an amazing book, a work of genius. It deserves to stand beside Lud-in-the-Mist or the writings of Lord Dunsany as a truly original seminal classic. And yet the most remarkable thing about it is that, amidst its intense and serious magic and its astonishing use of words, it causes you to laugh aloud-quite suddenly, taken unawares by an outrageous pun or an ingenious one-liner. I love this book and admire its nature magic more every time I read it."-Diana Wynne Jones

"There are some books that seem to have existed forever. That when you find them for the first time you are only rediscovering something you had lost, long ago. Hope Mirrlees's Lud-in-the-Mist is one of these; David Lindsay's Voyage to Arcturus is a second; Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is another. Green Ilene Gilman's Moonwise is one of that company. It does not take you to where the dreams start. It is where the dreams start."-John Clute

Quite possibly one of the worst books ever published. Suitable for tinder, but not reading. I am an avid reader, and for years could not stop reading a book I had started no matter how terrible it was. On the plus side, this wretched mess cured me of that. I suspect some of the rave reviews are from the sort that champion the underdog, and others were so tanked on something they figured it was the drugs, not the ridiculous writing, that made it hard to understand. In conclusion, whoever green-lit this atrocity for publication should be publicly flogged as a warning to others.

Greer Ilene Gilman is one of the most significant writers in the world today and I hope she gives us something new to follow up to or surpass her wonderful classic "Moonwise". We do not go to "Moonwise" for plot. We go to it for an experience of language that makes us feel as if the roots of psychic and telluric realities have been laid bare. The book can only be compared to James Joyce's astonishing "Finnegans Wake" but unlike the Wake Gilman shifts back and forth from dream conciousness to a more visionary form of conciousness. Long live Greer Ilene Gilman in whose wake the discerning will follow any day!

If you are looking for light fantasy, a quick escape from the world, this book is not for you. If you love poetry and language, puzzles and riddles, myth and folklore, Moonwise will delight you, if you are willing to take on a challenge. Be warned, Greer Gilman paints -- beautifully -- with old English and dialect, words so fallen out of use that you will only find them in the OED, not Webster's. She weaves meaning with the rich imagery one usually finds in poetry, not prose; like poetry, Moonwise is sometimes best read aloud.

Although the story may not seem complex to some, it's profound enough to enlighten and even transform lives. I've lent this often to fantasy-loving friends over the years: for half it was too rough going, some loved it, and - to my surprise - it transformed the life of one (a woman on the threshold of middle age, not some green youth who'd be entranced by Ayn Rand or Heinlein). Even now, on my fourth read through, I'm seeing things I didn't before. This is one of the few works of SF/Fantasy that might be read 2 centuries from now.

If you do buy this edition of Moonwise, cut out the foreword unread. It contains spoilers, a terrible thing to do to a masterpiece that is part riddle and puzzle.

I enjoyed this book a great deal (I managed to get a secondhand copy as a gift from a friend). I think it's a truly great example of an almost-lost way of telling tales, and it's daring, and it's a deep, heavy, demanding read. The scope of the tale is traditional -- it's a quest for someone, something valued -- but immense, and sends out roots into balladry and myth and so many other layers of the world. I enjoyed what Ms Gilman did with language, dialect and the voices of her characters. I concede that it's not a quick book, but books weren't always quick.