Whats your favorite book?

Question

Whats your favorite book?
Whys that?

Answer

I dont have a real favorite, but one in particular Im very fond of is The Mists of Avalon. Its a retelling of the legends of King Arthur, but from the perspective of the women in the story. What I especially like about this is that the author doesnt sacrifice the perspectives of the men, she just emphasizes those of the women, and the result is in my opinion the most characterdriven version of the Arthur story Ive ever read. All the people in it are threedimensional and very human, including the villains. And it has a very adult take on love and sexuality, on complex relationships, and especially on how our hangups and taboos can poison relationships with people we love.brbrAlong those lines, it has interesting things to say about the sexual and religious politics of the time. Morgaine Arthurs halfsister is raised as a priestess of an old Celtic religion that respected nature and honored women, and this religion is dying out in Britain as Roman Christianity is taking over. Throughout the novel Morgaine finds herself clashing not with Christianity itself as she initially thinks, but with a certain brand of Christianity that imports Roman culture, treating women as the property of men and teaching people of both sexes to repress even their harmless quotsinsquot.brbrThis is a fantasy novel, and there is magic in this novel. But its not the bombastic, Hollywood type of magic. Its subtle and beautiful and majestic.brbrSo, yeah. Check it out.