Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
Primary Driver: (Plot, World, or Character)
Bechdel Test: Fail
Technobabble: Fantasy Babble - yes
Review: A gem. Excellent writing, charming characters, engaging plot. Many books use Greco-Roman or Norse Mythology and it's a breath of fresh air to see an unrelated mythos and fables in a book. The world as depicted is both complex and fascinating. One of the most fun and novel books I've encountered. I was constantly surprised, but it never felt like cheating. At points heartbreaking, at points laugh-out-loud funny.
The abbot used to say that the emotional health of a village depended upon having a man whom everyone loved to hate, and Heaven had blessed us with two of them.
On the shallowest level Bridge of Birds is a simple fantasy story which sticks diligently to the tropes and archetypes of the genre. The Local Hero enters the Big Confusing World with the help of a Wise Mentor, and, in the process of handling a Small Problem ends up Bigger Than Expected.
Hughart nonetheless imbues his world with life and his work with charm. Tropes are played with brilliantly. Number Ten Ox is our POV character and narrator, and is the Watson to Master Li's Sherlock.
“Who you?” he said between slurps.
“My surname is Lu and my personal name is Yu, but I am not to be confused with the eminent author of The Classic of Tea. Everyone calls me Number Ten Ox,” I said.
“My surname is Li and my personal name is Kao, and there is a slight flaw in my character,” he said matter-of-factly. “You got a problem?”
The two have great chemistry, and even their simple discussions are engaging. There's also a running joke throughout - Number Ten Ox firmly believes that he's basically a dumb brute, and this ancient alcoholic knows all. On the second point he's not wrong - but Number Ten Ox is actually quite sharp.
Secondary characters are across the board superb. Henpecked Ho is probably my favorite, but Fang and Grub are hilarious as well. Each side character has a distinct personality, specific speech pattern, and actual motivations for doing whatever it is that they do. I'm a sucker for a) side characters with satisfying arcs and b) embedded fables and stories - both are done well here. The side arcs are relevant to the broader story, the embedded stories matter.
Pacing is perfect. Scenes and locales come fast and/or furious. Yet somehow the narrative doesn't feel barebones - not that there are unnecessary scenes, but rather despite the speed at which things move, we are still able to take a break to learn about the Sword Dance, to enjoy a good meal, to question if this whole journey is worth it, to sing a song and play a children's game.
It's hard to explore the plot without spoiling anything. I never knew what would happen next, but none of it felt unfair. It's far more, "Oh! I couldn't have foreseen that, but it makes sense!" It's supremely satisfying. I would highly recommend giving this (and the following two books in the series! reviews coming shortly) a read.
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Fainting Maid turned red, turned white, reeled, clutched her heart, and screeched, “Oh, thou hast slain me!” Then she staggered backward, lurched to the left, and gracefully swooned.
“Two feet back, six to the left,” her father sighed.
“Does she ever vary it?” Li Kao asked with scientific interest.
“Not so much as an inch. Precisely two feet back and six feet to the left. And now, dear boy, you are required to kneel and bathe her delicate temples and beg her forgiveness for your intolerable rudeness. My daughter,” said Henpecked Ho, “is never wrong, and I might add that never in her life has she been denied anything that she wanted.”
There is a deftness and brilliance to the crafting of this whole story. Here we meet Number Ten Ox's betrothed, Fainting Maid. She's a comically spoiled and petty woman, who, as indicated, faints dramatically whenever she fails to get what she wants. She also, as we learn, caused the death of the woman her father loved. Number Ten Ox and Master Li out her:
Henpecked Ho was staring at his monstrous daughter with horror and revulsion, and I suppose that the expression on my face was similar. Fainting Maid decided that Li Kao was the safest.“Surely you do not mean to suggest—”“Ah, but I do.”“You cannot possibly suspect—”
“Wrong again.”
“This incredible nonsense—”
“Is not nonsense.”
Fainting Maid turned red, turned white, clutched her chest, reeled and screeched, “Oh, thou has slain me!” Then she lurched two steps back and six to the left and disappeared.
Li Kao gazed at the spot where she had vanished. “Captious critics might tend to agree with you,” he said mildly, and then he turned to her father. “Ho, you are perfectly free to hear whatever you choose, but what I hear is a magpie that is imitating the sounds of a scream and a splash.”
Henpecked Ho’s face was white, and his hands trembled, and his voice was unsteady, but he never flinched.
“Clever little creature,” he whispered. “Now it is imitating the sound of somebody screaming ‘Help!’”
Li Kao linked arms with Henpecked Ho, and the two of them strolled up the path while I trotted nervously behind.
“What a talented magpie,” Master Li observed. “How on earth can it manage that sound of thrashing in the water, and the gurgle that sounds strikingly like somebody sinking down into a deep pool?”
“Nature is full of remarkable talents,” Henpecked Ho whispered. “Yours, for example.”
“There is a slight flaw in my character,” Master Li said modestly.
When we returned an hour later I judged from the silence that the talented magpie was no longer with us.
“I think that I had best remove this mark from the path, lest busybodies wonder why it is precisely two feet in front and six feet to the right of an old well from which somebody has rashly removed the cover,” said Master Li. “Ready?”
While the details of her falling are put in to show how artificial she is, it ends up being a major point for this part of the narrative. This little story has a number of other purposes:
- We're introduced to ghosts (the ex-lover of Henpecked Ho)
- Henpecked Ho shows up a number of times and provides crucial information
- Fainting Maid's funeral propels the narrative further
- Henpecked Ho's mother is one of the villains who we encounter again
- Master Li shows how he values justice
“Did I get her?” he whispered.
“Ho, you chopped that monster into a hundred pieces,” Master Li said proudly.
“I am so happy,” the gentle scholar whispered. “Now my ancestors will not be ashamed to greet me when I arrive in Hell to be judged.”
“Bright Star will be waiting for you,” I said.
“Oh no, that would be far too much to ask,” he said seriously. “The most that I dare ask of the Yama Kings is that I may be born as a beautiful flower, so that sometime, somewhere, a dancing girl might choose to pluck me and wear me in her hair.”
I blinked through my tears, and he patted my hand. “Do not weep for me, Number Ten Ox. I have grown so weary of this life, and I long to return to the Great Wheel of Transmigrations.” His voice was very faint, and I leaned down to hear his last words. “Immortality is only for the gods,” he whispered. “I wonder how they can stand it.”
First, fabulous writing. Second, much of the broader story has to do with gods and immortality, and the pain of an eternity of unrequited love. In one brief exchange Hughart weaves the main ideas of the story into the completion of the arc of one of the many side characters, giving him the sendoff he deserves.
There are lots of other things I'd like to discuss - the ongoing theme of reincarnation, how each character discusses how they hope to return. The interweaving of myth and story. The truly ominous presence of the Duke of Chi'in, laughing as he shrugs off an axe to the chest. The fact that there are stakes, and characters we care about suffer and die.
Stumbling upon books like this is what makes this whole project worth slogging through some duds - to find a story that comes alive and floats from the page, that's impossible to put down, where each detail clicks every line is honed to perfection.
If you've read this far and you haven't read the book, you're doing yourself a disservice - but, unlike some of these reviews I've still left most spoilers out. You can still give it a read and enjoy the heck out of it. And you should.
In my next life I'd like to be a rock at the end of a hiking trail, a place to hide from the wind and enjoy the view. What about you, Stranger?
And don't forget to read a book!
I’ve been eagerly anticipating your reaction to this book. It really is unique.
ReplyDeleteHints of Douglas Adams in fantasy form.
It's not one of the award winners, but for me it felt somewhat similar to Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories - a combination of lyrical and lighthearted mixed with dark and intense.
DeleteAny other recommendations for books that evoke a similar feeling?