Customer Reviews

Oracles: A Pilgrimage

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I took this slim volume of poetry with me to the hospital earlier this week. Once I realised that the Toradol and morphine injections weren't making me horribly loopy, I picked it up to help pass the time. I devoured "Oracles: A Pilgrimage" in a single sitting. Ms. Valente's use of language ... it's like dancing with words. Of course, when the Oracle leads, we might waltz, tango, do a bit of dirty dancing, or stage dive into a mosh pit. There's really no telling where she's going to take me, and I love it. We travelled all over the country together, the Oracle and I. We sat at tables low and high sampling many different sorts of pie - some bitter, some sweet, and some that utterly befuddled and bewitched my senses. I cannot recommend this fascinating book of intoxicating poetry highly enough.

And no, hard drugs are not required for enjoyment of "Oracles".

"Oracles: A Pilgrimage" is delicious. Bewitching. Intoxicating. There's a beautiful balance struck between the blazingly Apollonian and the chthonic Pythian, the vapors of the cave and the charring, blazing inspiration of the oracles. Set in a series of poetic vignettes in different cities, the book presents images of the Sibyl as framed in each city, from Seattle to Miami, southern California to the wilds of New England. I particularly appreciated the author's deft touch on the maddening, clarifying influence of such personal attention from a deity, and the psychological effects it can have on one, painted more often evocatively than explicitly. Fans of modern mythology and urban enchantment should certainly pick this one up... you lovers of de Lint and Gaiman and poetry, give Catherynne Valente a try. It's a relatively short book, with more of a focus on the poetic thread than on an epic, well-spelled-out story-arc -- think of it as leaves from manuscripts rather than as a full-length fiction novel. Scant hours after the book had left my hands, I pressed it on another friend to borrow, so pleased with it was I.

Catherynne M. Valente, Oracles: A Pilgrimage (Prime, 2005)

There is a new generation of rising young literary stars who have embraced a classical approach to writing. Catherynne M. Valente is one of those at the forefront. A select few are aware of her gorgeous, fantastic novels; far fewer have discovered her wonderful poetry. This is a shame, and I will here do what I can to remedy the situation.

While Valente's prose style can, perhaps, best be called Corinthian, her poetry is an oddly stripped-down animal; going from a novel to a poem in Valente's world is like trading a Rolls with all the bells and whistles for a souped-up '68 Shelby. The ride may be a little bumpier, but you're still getting to your destination in unheard-of style:

"Instinctively,
she'll know to pull out the liver,
fat as a brown-bellied river eel,
and press her fingertip
into the pink blemish
staining the regiones dirae
like a mud-trapped starfish."
(--"The Oracle at Amarillo")

Subtle, spicy, painted in some color that would only look right on a muscle car, but when it passes beneath the trees, whole new chromatic worlds open up.

The book does flag a time or two (well, okay, only once), trading in Valente's fantastic mastery of image for a message poem that sacrifices image for sociopolitical screed that, like almost all sociopolitical screed masquerading as poetry, goes nowhere, but in a book of this quality, one slip is easily forgiven; it's certainly not a reason not to go seeking this out and picking it up at your earliest convenience. *** ½

If everyone wrote poetry with this much passion and skill, no one would ever mock poets again!
Catherynne M. Valente revitalizes poetry and puts me in the mind of the great classic poets of literary history.

You won't be disappointed in this collection!

Catherynne M. Valente is a wonderful, wonderful writer with a fluid, enrapturing style and a beautiful sense of language that so few writers possess. I have adored every book of hers, be it poetry or prose, that I have read and every time I purchase yet another one, it is a purchase made with the confidence I will not be disappointed. If you have any hesitations about purchasing this book, please take a chance on it. The loveliness of her style is one that should be envied, and will hook you as a reader from the very beginning. :)

Yes, Oracles: A Pilgrimage is another Catherynne M. Valente book, but this one is poetry! Sorta.

The idea is pretty straightforward. There was this oracle at Delphi, right? She was famous and all, but there were other oracles (otherwise, they'd call her "The Oracle" instead of "The Oracle at Delphi"). Sure, we don't hear about them often, but they must be around, 'cause we've also not heard of The Great Oracle Cataclysm of 385 (or whenever). So, if they're around, where are they?

If you're Valente, they live in Seattle, Detroit, L.A. and Boston... to name a few.

I loved the concept, so I had to try the book, even though I'm generally not a huge fan of poetry. Like everything else I've read by her, this is brilliant, although it does tend to be a bit more academic and less accessible than her prose has been. I know my mythologies, but she clearly knows hers better. (If you don't know yours, you may want to give this one a pass.) References to myth and rituals abound, wrapped up in and adapted to the cities in which these modern oracles live.

Proper enjoyment of this book requires deep knowledge of mythology (mostly Greek, but I think there are references to others hiding around here as well) geography and sociology. This is a book that will be taught in colleges at some point in the future, and she'll likely have to put out an annotated version sometime. Until then, however, it's very enjoyable so long as you don't suffer from a need to understand everything that is said.

If I had to pick out flaws, only two come to mind. First, like many themed poetry books, the poems tend to run together. I should have been more disciplined and read them one-per-night, otherwise it gets old near the end. Secondly, for some strange reason, there is no title information on the cover or spine. I mean, I know which book it is, because what other book would have Collier's Priestess of Delphi on it? But really, words are nice, and when I shelve it in Poetry, it would be nice not to have to remember that it's the one that's red and has no text on the spine (the second in my poetry section that meets that description).

So, if you enjoy mythology and poetry and believe that you are sufficiently well educated to enjoy it, pick it up and give it a whirl. You'll not be disappointed.