Customer Reviews

Swans Wing

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

 

 

This is the story of Matthew, a stone carver who abandons a life of riches, a full stomach, and comfort to search for the perfection he feels his work has always lacked. He longs to create "a man who will step down from the cross and walk" but is told that God alone can do such things, and is tortured by his inability to truly create. On his wanderings, he meets a goose girl, Gerda, who is traveling with a man who is what Matthew seeks. He is Lothar, the youngest of eleven princes who were transformed into swans and back again. But Lothar remains between a man and a bird: he has a swan's wing in the place of an arm. He is looking for someone to change the enchantment back. Gerda, who loves him, follows. To Matthew, Lothar is the perfection that he searches for, and goes with them upon their quest. Yet the deep sorrow of the prince is forever pulling at the reader - what is it he truly seeks? an arm? or to once again become a swan? The beauty and simplicity of this work touches the philosopher in us all, and it lingers with us long after the book has been lain aside.

Be warned - it is not for those of you looking for the story of the 11 swans from fairytales, or for readers of adventurous fantasy. Its purpose is not to thrill or to continue the story of the swans, it is a quiet, insightful look at human nature.

Although after reading the other reviews of this book I can understand how they were disappointed (it supposedly is a continuation of some other story line), I disagree entirely. I picked it up without knowing any previous connection(s) to other fairy tales and fell in love immediately with its combination of fact vs. fiction, good vs. evil, outward appearances vs. inward realities, and finally truth over deception. What I enjoyed most was how we all see others based on the outward appearance, and frequently neglect to search deeper. Parts of the unrequited love element woven within the pages actually made me cry. It was different, totally enthralling and I will reread it over and over. Excellent!!!

This book is a jewel among plain river stones, a slim volume and yet deeply penetrating. Though it is not heavy reading, it is graceful and philosophic, sorrowful and enlightening. It is a glimpse at the mortality of man's creations and the imperfection in all we make. But it is not a pessimistic story; indeed, it shows how we carry on, despite our fall from grace, in a world of our own making.

The book was Ursula Synge's "Swan's Wing". It arrived within the shipping time specified, and it was in the condition described.

Without getting into the reasons for buying this book, I have been quite surprised at the excellent quality of the writing. I had never heard of Ursula Synge before, but I will be buying more of her books in the future.

In the fairy tale of the brothers who were turned into swans by their evil stepmother and saved by the shirts of thistle woven by their sister, one brother got an incomplete shirt. Handsome Lothar is left with the curse of a swan's wing in the place of his left arm. Swan's Wing deals with Lothar's desperate and unhappy quest to find a cure. Three friends accompany him: a wood carver disatisfied with God and perfection, a determined maid in love with Lothar, and a goose. Lothar does not find his cure; he finds the cold Duchess Almira who collects oddities. He is drawn into her web of icy seduction and loses himself. Can his friends rescue him?

At the end of this short but unwieldy novel, the reader no longer cares whether Lothar is rescued or not. He and his companions inspire only indifference, and they seem distant and cold. The whole plot with Almira seems out of place and underemphasized; the wood-carver's many internal dialogues concerning God are dull and preachy. More than half the book is spent in journeying (both physical and spiritual) and all of it is overly moralistic and heavy-handed. The ending is a twist that has none of the impact it supposes it does. Swan's Wing tries for symbolism and lyricism but achieves only melodrama. If you're in a fowl mood, Mercedes Lackey's new one, The Black Swan, is a better bet.

The story of the Six Swans has always been a favorite of mine, so I was looking forward to reading a retelling of it. Unfortunately, Swan's Wing did not come close to fulfilling my expectations, and in fact bears little relation to the original. Most of the story is a pretentious, boring tale of an artist called Matthew; he fills up the pages with his internal conflict and self-doubting concerning his ability to create art, his faith in God, and so on. Occasionally the author remembers that this is supposed to be a continuation of The Six Swans, and writes a little about Lothar, the man with a swan's wing, who also experiences much anguish and internal conflict. (It is a very anguish-filled book, both for the characters and for the reader.) Then there's the sweet, beautiful goose girl, Gerda, who must have been there for some reason but I can't recall it. Ailanna, the other reviewer, is right about this book; the characters are uninteresting, and it is overly moralistic and melodramatic. I kept having to put it down and read something else. I forced myself to read a chapter a day. The narrative technique was confusing. For the first half of the book, it is third-person, apart from occasional paragraphs in italics which are told in first-person from Matthew's point of view. All of part two is first person. I can see no particular reason for this strange technique, and can only conclude that it was meant to seem important and literary, and/or the author just felt like it. I do not recommend this book at all. I would like to find a better retelling of The Six Swans to get this out of my mind; unfortunately, I can't find a copy of The Seventh Swan, which is supposed to be good.