Rupert Owen reviewed Mythago wood by Robert Holdstock
Review of 'Mythago wood' on 'GoodReads'
5 stars
I recently re-read Mythago Wood after having read it as a young teenager, more than twenty-six years ago. I enjoyed it then, and must admit, enjoyed it twice as much now. I don't think the narrative has dated ideas at all, I think all authors have the creative freedom to shape narratives in any which way they think suits the story they want to tell. Indeed, the sequel follows the storyline of a female protagonist.
I thought it a fascinating scrutiny of a paternal relationship gone awry over the objectification of a female fantasy, and I think the character of Gwuiwennerth couldn't have been written any other way as this isn't a story from her perspective, it is from the male protagonists/antagonists who, with a 1940s backdrop, suitably express certain ideals of the day. But there really is something brutal about the lust and jealousy within the family, the primeval …
I recently re-read Mythago Wood after having read it as a young teenager, more than twenty-six years ago. I enjoyed it then, and must admit, enjoyed it twice as much now. I don't think the narrative has dated ideas at all, I think all authors have the creative freedom to shape narratives in any which way they think suits the story they want to tell. Indeed, the sequel follows the storyline of a female protagonist.
I thought it a fascinating scrutiny of a paternal relationship gone awry over the objectification of a female fantasy, and I think the character of Gwuiwennerth couldn't have been written any other way as this isn't a story from her perspective, it is from the male protagonists/antagonists who, with a 1940s backdrop, suitably express certain ideals of the day. But there really is something brutal about the lust and jealousy within the family, the primeval execution of those emotions, and the ritualistic superstition guiding it as an irrational figment of the mind.
Having said that, for me it is the character of Ryhope Wood that expresses the most interesting portraiture. Research has come a long way in respect to the collective intelligence of trees, and some research in sensory awareness. Ryhope becomes a fertile mythopoeic matrix where the accuracy of the fantasy can only be ascertained through the characters of the book.
Holdstock writes with brevity, only using necessary language and repetition to keep the story moving. He uses stories within stories to backfill many parts of the narrative, I found these useful placeholders in the plot as, despite there being a large proportion of the story established from an internal perspective, the action picks up pace fairly rapidly.
