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A very enjoyable book, about a woman who loves the forest and nature and freedom. One day, a man walks into being in her forest .. and she sees him change from sunshine into human. A man who wants to become human, but cannot quite do it. He is stuck in another world .. without freedom. His grandfather cursed his father, and the village wonders where this new man fits into the curse and the story. Roise, the woman who loves freedom, sees more than most, and so has the ability to know Corbet is more than he appears and also to fight with him for his freedom.

Two characters are known to chase after what they cannot have. Perhaps not to chase physically, but to so long for it that they begin to waste away, to care about nothing else, to cease living fully in this world. How hard for those around them to watch .. and to see them choosing poorly. They both care about a man and he goes away, and part of them is carried with them. These men go to another world .. a parallel world, perhaps, and the women cannot follow them. But they try. One is described as slowly taking up less and less space, belonging less and less to this world -- eating less, breathing less, feeling less, giving up self. Makes me wonder how we do this in less visible ways - seeking things we cannot have, searching so strongly for things that are gone that we begin to lose what is right next to us, becoming preoccupied with the past or future so the present loses its power. How easily we humans can be distracted from this business of living, choosing instead those things which lead to death and lifelessness.

The lives of Roise and Corbet become slowly intertwined, and in that other world the possibility of them becoming inseperably intertwined is very real. Roise loves nature and the woods, and is always bringing home beautiful flowers and tasty mushrooms and healing herbs. Corbet is stuck in the woods (in a sense), and she goes into them to bring him out. In one of the last scenes, the Woman of Winter (who has control over this other world) promises Roise that she and Corbet (who she loves) will be together forever, the ivy and roses growing together so one cannot live without the other. This woman has turned Corbet into ivy a number of times before, so it stands for and is part of him. Roise is given the opportunity to be married to him and to have children with him .. but in this other place, with no option for freedom. She will not accept it and fights for their lives. But the image of ivy and roses growing together is beautiful, crosses the lines between worlds, and full of meaning.

Title:	Winter Rose
Author:	Patricia McKillip
Date published:	1996
Genre:	Fantasy
Number of pages:	262
Notes:	Repeat reading (and more to come!)

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This is fiction, but written as a biography of a Japenese woman (Sayuri), who as a young child (Chiyo) was sent to the city for training to become a geisha. One of the first descriptions in the book is of her eyes .. they are grey, almost without color. Which is taken to mean that her personality is like that of water, which is flexible and able to adjust to anything. (Her father is like wood .. slow and steady and unchangeable). Which turns out to be very important for her survival, that she can adjust and make do and find ways to move around obstacles -- as well as her eyes, which are memorable and beautiful and attract attention. On her lowest day, she sits down to cry and a nice man comes to her and talks to her (which is basically unheard of in this society, and even gives her his handkerchief. He becomes a symbol to her of hope, and as things begin to happen well for her (there is a shift in many things which happens fairly quickly), she always has a dream that she will see this man and be able to thank him. In fact, he becomes her ideal in every way. She runs into him early on in her career, but circumstances are such that she cannot pay him much attention, and this causes her fairly constant worry and wonder and hope and doubt.

The world that this young girl is thrown into is harsh. She is the lowest person in the household that she is part of and must listen to and obey orders from all those above her (4 main people, plus other servants). Everything familiar is taken away from her .. parents and even her sister, and she is left to fend for herself and find new reasons to live and dreams to keep. Geisha have to be very good at what they do .. entertaining men. They are somewhat related to prostitutes, but they have to learn many more things and are a valued part of their society. They must learn dancing, singing, instruments, the tea ceremony, how to dress properly, how to wear their makeup, and how to be in conversation with men in such a way they are entertained -- knowing what can entice and just how far to push things. The lessons and way they are prepared for their life includes strict punishment, strict rules, an apprenticeship to an older geisha, and a learning how to compartmentalize life in such a way that they can survive what they do each day and evening. Sayuri does remarkably well .. at first she cannot adjust and almost is sent away to a hopeless life (in many ways), but through a few circumstances (namely the Chairman and Mameha, a successful geisha who took her under her wing), she becomes successful and eventually leads a life that she enjoys.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book that so many people have read and that became a movie, but it was well worth my time. A good story, with any number of phrases and ideas that I sat and savored. Also managed to get a few stares and odd looks as people read the title, but that's alright .. a good book is worth a bit of trouble. As with another book I read recently, I learned about culture and values as well as enjoying the story, causing me to wonder about the values and traditions of my own culture. Some are worth keeping, and others .. could use a bit of challenging.

Title:	Memoirs of a Geisha
Author:	Arthur Golden
Date published:	1997
Genre:	Historical Fiction
Number of pages:	493
Notes:	Read in a few days (traveling to Turkey!)

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Elena is a werewolf-- the only female one, in a world where being a werewolf is only hereditary for males and the Pack is the ruling class of werewolves. She's been running away from her identity and trying to live a normal life when the Pack begins having trouble and summons her back to help deal with the "mutts" (non-Pack or "wild" werewolves) who've been causing them trouble. She's torn about being near Clay again-- her lover and the man who bit her without asking or telling what he was (because he loved her and this was the only way they could be together). Meanwhile, the mutts seem to have banded together and begun recruiting human serial killers to try to take down the Pack, and Elena begins losing friends and pack-brothers.

Elena's relationship with Clay bothered me a little bit. It seemed obvious that she loved him deeply and belonged with him, even if she was mad at him for what he did, but she is supposed to be oblivious to this fact-- until she fears that he is in danger and goes racing across the country (in wolf form) to save him. But even before she admits to herself that she loves him, she seems to be having amorous adventures with him almost every other chapter. The sensuality seems somewhat appropriate for the werewolves as Armstrong describes them, but it was more than I needed and didn't make sense to me for how the character supposedly felt.

This was a pretty fun read. Elena is a very interesting character, and I liked Armstrong's new take on werewolves. Might be worth reading more of this series sometime.

I've been mildly interested in this book for a while; when I read a decently good review of it on Bureau42, I finally decided to check it out.

Title:	Bitten
Author:	Kelley Armstrong
Date published:	2001
Genre:	Contemporary Fantasy
Series:	Women of the Otherworld
Number of pages:	342

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The story of Michelangelo Buonarroti, the Italian artist who created the "David" and painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. His life was more interesting and complicated than most people, which is probably a very good thing. Michelangelo is born to a father who wants him to work hard to earn money for the family, but all he wants to do is sculpt. He is from Florence, a city that celebrates artists and art, which turns out to be a huge blessing to him. Michelangelo, with his ability to create beautiful art, ends up serving under a number of Popes (three or four, at least), and having relationships with them that the average person wouldn't dream of (i.e. he sought to ask for what he needed and challenge what was expected of him and his art). This book shares not only about the life of one man, but also about the way his society worked, some of the other major players during his time, and his culture.

Stone does a good job of portraying the life of an artist. Michelangelo does art not because it can make money for him, but because he has to -- because it comes from inside him and is his best way to relate to the world and to convey truth and ideas. Since I too enjoy art (although in no way would I compare myself to this artist!), it was enjoyable to read this book and be reminded that art is something good for the world and for those who do it. That art can communicate and express when it comes from inside. It was inspiring and encouraging .. in the direction of actually pulling out art supplies and getting to work. Or to play. Or to expression. Or to practice, at least!

Title:	The Agony and the Ecstasy
Author:	Irving Stone
Date published:	1961
Genre:	Biography
Number of pages:	758

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