Deathless by
Catherynne M. Valente
Published: 2011, Tor
Awards Nominated:
Locus Fantasy Award
The Book:
“Koschei
the Deathless is to Russian folklore what devils or wicked witches are to
European culture: a menacing, evil figure; the villain of countless stories
which have been passed on through story and text for generations. But Koschei
has never before been seen through the eyes of Catherynne Valente, whose
modernized and transformed take on the legend brings the action to modern
times, spanning many of the great developments of Russian history in the
twentieth century.
Deathless,
however, is no dry, historical tome: it lights up like fire as the young Marya
Morevna transforms from a clever child of the revolution, to Koschei’s
beautiful bride, to his eventual undoing. Along the way there are Stalinist
domoviye, magical quests, secrecy and bureaucracy, and games of lust and power.
All told, Deathless is a collision of magical history and actual history, of
revolution and mythology, of love and death, which will bring Russian myth back
to life in a stunning new incarnation.” ~WWEnd.com
Deathless
is the second novel I’ve read by Valente, and the first I’ve read of her adult-targeted
novels. This was a challenging novel for me, so I’m planning on reading some translations
of Aleksandr Afanasiev’s collected fairy tales to gain a little more
retroactive insight. In the
meantime, I will review the novel as best I can!
My
Thoughts:
Even though I had only ever read her young adult
fiction, Valente’s descriptive, poetic writing was instantly recognizable in Deathless. She evokes the feeling of
fairy tales very strongly, most clearly in the use of some familiar
structures. For instance, many
things in the story happen in threes, and the three instances are sometimes described
with identical phrasing. Valente’s writing can veer rapidly from humorous to
profound, and there were many quotes throughout the story that were especially
memorable. For instance, here is one paragraph describing ration cards during
the blockade of Leningrad:
“A ration card
says, This much life we have allotted you. It says, This much death we can keep from your door. But no more. It says, In
Leningrad there is only so much life to go around. It says, The only
thing not rationed in Leningrad is death.” p. 523
Valente’s knowledge of Russian culture, history, and
folklore is apparent throughout the novel. I feel like Deathless gave me a better understanding of Russian diminutives, as
well as teaching various Russian words through naming wordplay (though I did
have to look up the meanings). I also learned more about many mythological
creatures rarely featured in most fiction I’ve read—like leshy, domoviye,
rusalki, and others—as well as learning more about early 20th
century Russia. Valente does not
exactly hold your hand through all of this, so I think it could be a little
intimidating for those of us who are picking it up as we go.
Despite the fairy-tale style and structure, the
mature content (concerning war, death, and adult relationships) makes it clear
that this is a story for adults.
Valente entwines Russian folklore with the events that took place in the
country in the first half of the 20th century. Marya ends up
involved in Koschei’s (the Tsar of Life) never-ending war with Viy (the Tsar of
Death). The war between the living and the dead is balanced by historical events—the
Revolution, the administrations of Lenin and Stalin, and World War 2. Marya is
torn between the real and the unreal, drawn both to the fantastic country of
Buyan and the increasingly deadly, constantly changing city of St. Petersburg/Petrograd/Leningrad. Through Marya’s life in both worlds, we
see how the common stories of a group of people affect and are affected by the
reality they experience.
At the center of the story is the romance between Marya
Morevna and Koschei the Deathless. I am not entirely sure I correctly read the
meaning behind the portrayal of their romance. I think it might have been that relationships change
drastically over time, and that the same people can mean very different things
to one another through the course of a life. Marya and Koschei’s relationship is certainly constantly
changing—between monogamous and open, vanilla and BDSM, abusive and loving,
faithful and unfaithful. Through all of this, Valente explored the power
dynamics of love, asserting that the primary question in a romantic
relationship is, “Who is to rule?”
I don’t think I especially agree with that, but I enjoyed the complexity
of Mary and Koschei’s ideas of love.
As you can probably tell, this was a very dense
novel for me. There was so much
information, so many references, and so many worthwhile ideas to explore about
mythology/ideology and theory of romance. The writing was beautiful, and at
times incredibly emotionally moving. However, the direction and pacing sometimes
felt a little haphazard. It was sometimes
hard to pick out a clear narrative arc from all the content, and the story
seemed to constantly jump off in unexpected directions. I often like unusually structured
stories, but I felt like I didn’t understand the relevance or importance of
some of the plot turns. For instance, I’m certain that a lot of the
significance of the Yaichka section went over my head, and I’m still not sure I
really understood the ending. In
any case, this was a remarkable novel, and one that I will probably be trying
to figure out for some time to come.
My
Rating: 4.5/5
Deathless
is a creative novel that is notable for the stylistic, poetic
flair of the prose, the entwining of myth and history, and the commentary on
relationships, power, and other topics. It was a daunting novel to read, due to
the knowledge it assumes in its readers and the many levels of meaning in each
small part of the story. The plot sometimes seems a little directionless, and
it gets progressively more difficult to understand towards the end. However,
all of those challenges also combine to make it into a fascinating story. I think at least a passing familiarity
with Russian language, history and folklore would be useful for appreciating
the novel to the fullest. Regardless, I very much enjoyed my first foray into
Valente’s adult fiction!
