At last, I sit down to write about this absolutely marvellous read. I finally sunk into The Starless Sea during my favourite week of the year: Pismo. It was the perfect read for those final days of July, being that I was in my happiest place: literally by the sea & the used bookshops that have become treasures in my life. I now will forever have the fondest memories of the way I devoured this in four days: reading it in Café Andreini, at night, curled up in my bed at Oxford, or in the cool, overcast afternoons, sipping some coffee and sitting near the firepit. Let the Musings begin…
*these musings will actually be spoiler free!*
Story & Plot
Earlier this year, when I talked about my moving experience with The Book Thief, I touched on my penchant for story-within-story. It’s an affection that I have nurtured for many years now, and I can’t state enough how much I thrill when I come across a novel that executes this so well. The Starless Sea was one such read.
The storytelling!! <3 It’s hard to say you find a novel where the storytelling–in and of itself an almost character–is so poignant. Not only effective in doing its job, that is, storytelling, but in taking on a force of its own. ‘tis hard to describe unless you’ve read this book for yourself, or can think of others like it.
That being said, the plot itself–or, the myriad plots, I should say–were executed gracefully. Interruptions were purposeful, and they enriched the tension so very potently. The Starless Sea is made up of so many stories, and the parallel plots, like tributaries to a great and vast sea (hehe), flowed with ease; the streams, rivulets, and brooks becoming more obviously entwined as the story reached its climax, waning together beautifully when the resolute ocean (see what i did there) was finally met.
Aside from the main story: Simon and Eleanor was my favourite. I also thoroughly enjoyed the Moon and the Innkeeper, and the Dollhouse story came in the clutch, when the main story was reaching its peak.
Prose
Oh, the prose!!! The beautiful, stirring, lyrical prose! It calls to both fantasy and magical realism lovers, painting twirling images that dazzle your senses and leave you wanting more and more. Morgenstern is certainly one of the few authors that have made my personal oh-how-i-wish-i-could-write-like-that list, alongside Tolkien, Zusak, Lewis, and Montgomery–so, this is high praise from me.
We are the stars,” he answers, as though it is the most obvious of facts afloat in a sea of metaphors and misdirections. “We are all stardust and stories.”
Simon, to Zachary
Everything whispers the story here, the sea and the bees whisper and I listen and I try to find the shape of it all… New stories wrap themselves around the old ones. The ancient stories that flames whisper to moths. This one wears thin in the places it has been told and retold.
simon, to zachary
Hung between the outstretched limbs and crowns and antlers there are ropes and ribbons and threads tying the statues to the balconies and the doors and strung with book pages and keys and feathers and bones.
ERin morgenstern
For those who feel homesick for a place they’ve never been to. Those who seek even if they do not know what (or where) it is that they are seeking. Those who seek will find.
This reminds me of narnia :,( <333 and ofc, the biblical allusion at the end there is primo
Strange, isn’t it? To love a book. When the words on the pages become so precious that they feel like part of your own history because they are.
i’m sorry but the absolute accuracy???? the way this says what i have felt all of my life
Characters, who were each their own story
These characters man, oh my goodness. Darling Dorian, sweet darling Dorian!!! <3 I adore him. Zachary was such a wonderful lead, I absolutely loved rooting for him with each turning page. And out of all the wonderful stories within The Starless Sea, Simon and Eleanor had my whole entire heart. Both of them were so complex, and they had me in the throes of agony, and at the tops of the highest, sunniest mountain peak. Mirabel and the Keeper omg, ANGELS.
Motifs
I’m not going to go into too much detail, but my goodness, the motifs. Aesthetically pleasing to one’s imagination, integral to the moving along of the plot, symbolic of oh so much, and companions to Zachary and co., the motifs were wonderful. Bees (and the honey they make), keys (and the doors they open), swords, crowns, and the everlasting, undulating sea itself — all marvellous.
Fin
I could seriously continue talking about this wonderful novel, but I shall restrain myself. This is one of those books that you want to be thoroughly acquainted with, and as a result, I cannot wait to reread this already. Since I read this via the library, I look forward to getting my own copy to annotate the heck out of. I am stoked to read The Night Circus in November, as I mentioned in my Autumn ’21 TBR; I already know that it’s going to be soooo good.
Thanks for reading! Have you read The Starless Sea yet?! If you have, please please chat to me in the comments, I’d love to hear your thoughts! If not, I could not recommend it any more, def go read it as soon as possible, you won’t regret it xx