Francesca Lia Block Project: Psyche in a Dress

I'm revisiting works of my favorite urban fantasy author Francesca Lia Block, as well as reading her new work, in order to see how my perception of her work has grown and how her craft has changed, remained the same, etc. over the years.

When I first read Psyche in a Dress in 2006 during my breaks at Borders one day, I didn't quite get it. I knew it was beautiful and enchanting like everything Francesca writes, yet its meaning was lost on my inexperience.

It is near the end of the story when Joy returns to Psyche that I figured out what the journey of Francesca's Psyche is about.

I have been young too
I have been Psyche, I have been Echo
I have been Eurydice
I have been Persephone, like you
I thought I was not a goddess
My mother was a goddess
Now I am Demeter, like my mother
Because of you
My Demeter tried to save me from Hades
That man you have is Eros too
I let my Eros, your father, leave
because I didn't think I was enough
But you must remember you are everything
We all are
Psyche means soul
What more is there than that?

~from Psyche in a Dress, Frances Lia Block

When I was 20, I had been Psyche, I had been Echo. I had not yet been through hell, I was not Persephone, I was not Eurydice. Now I'm 25, and during the time from the first reading to the next, I was in turn Psyche (again), Eurydice, and Persephone. Like fairy tale heroines who are at the same time Snow White and her wicked mother, the men in Psyche in a Dress at times seem to be the same person, but at other occasions are distinctly different characters. I don't believe in such a thing as THE ONE, so I think Psyche and Eros are fluid states; you can have several true loves* in your life, but one person won't always be the right person.

I think there is a possibility that Francesca believes in soul mates, and I draw my strongest evidence from Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books. Every main character pairs off with someone from a young age. This is especially true for Weetzie's daughter Cherokee who meets her future lover Raphael when they are children. The couples fight and separate, but like Francesca's Psyche and Eros, they're meant for one another so nothing will keep them apart forever.

I've realized that sometimes it isn't that a book isn't for you, but instead a book isn't for you at the moment. This is something I think is true as a reader and a writer. Something in my mind nags at me all the time, saying, "Please stop writing your vampire novel. Start your faerie tale retelling novel." But I reply, "No, I have to write my vampire novel, then the one that might be magical realism, then a collection short stories (maybe an urban fantasy or two in there somewhere, and maybe even the first book in the crossover fantasy series). After that I have to live with monks in France for a couple weeks. THEN I'll write my faerie tale retelling novel."

The myth of Psyche is really about the faith needed to truly love the gods. No one nails that concept as well as C.S. Lewis does in Till We Have Faces. I can't imagine anyone topping it. Francesca translates it into a tale about equality in relationships. I'm irked by people who look at myths and folklore on a surface level only, and I was worried during both readings that Francesca's story would turn out that way, but she explores the pain and confusion of healthy and destructive types of love, and the effects it has on the soul. (Soul can be read in a spiritual or secular way.) Psyche punishes herself for betraying Eros' request to never look upon him, but ultimately she declares herself a goddess. I'll say that again: ultimately she declares herself a goddess. She doesn't need the gods to bestow it on her like the Psyche of myth. Francesca's Psyche is worthy of being a goddess because she exists. She carries on despite neglect and being wrongfully shamed.

Psyche doesn't ask or need to be worshiped. Women-as-goddesses in Psyche in a Dress survive trials by fire, and are protectors of the young as a result. They are goddesses--patron saints, even--looking out for those whom haven't yet had their trials. But you must remember you are everything I think Francesca is telling us that even though Love is out there, we are still whole without Love. Eros is not our other half, the piece of ourselves we are waiting for in order to be complete.

*By "true love" I mean a love that is healthy, honest, and nondestructive. I've had pleasant relationships that have ended, and I'll always love my former partners.

Catalyst: Issue 6 of Stone Telling

"Catalyst", Issue 6 of Stone Telling, has been out for a few weeks, and I'm now getting my act together to write about how much I'm googly-eyed in love with it. This issue is  big deal for me because I have a poem in the issue, and I'm completely honored to be in such good company.

"Girl Hours" by Sofia Samatar struck me deeply when I first read it, and I spent Xmas and New Year's mulling it about in my mind. I'm still thinking about it, still reading it again and again, thinking about the space my body takes up, how I allow my body to remain sedentary when my mind tells it to work. If I had edited this issue, I would have also put this poem first, as Rose and Shweta did. I don't know why they chose to put it first, but for me it would be that the story is told in reverse order, and it ends with a catalyst.

"to travel
where distance is no longer measured in miles but in lifetimes,
in epochs, in breaths, in light years, in girl hours."
~"Girl Hours", Sofia Samatar

"Lovelace Nocturnes" by Mary Alexandra Agner is poetry done in a way I've never seen before. She uses functional Ada code in her piece to weave poetry and code in a way I didn't know was possible. This is a poem I feel I've lived in some ways. I often feel like a handmade daughter, and I resist that, which has lead contention between me and my parents. I'll put up with it to be myself, of course. The reason I changed my name was to establish myself as my own person rather than the daughter they wanted me to be.

"      while NOW < FUTURE loop
               if (NOW mod 2) = 0 then                     FAMILY := CLEAR_DAYS;
               elsif (NOW mod 3) = 0 then                 FAMILY := COLD_SHOULDERS;
               else                                                       FAMILY := CHIMES;
               end if;"
~"Lovelace Nocturnes", Mary Alexandra Agner

"The exposure of William H. Mumler" by J.C. Runolfson is dear to me because of my love for photography. First of all, it's a brilliant title for this piece because of the multiple meanings of "exposure". This piece spoke to me about staying sane through work and art, and making the insane seem sane through popular opinion.

"So he thought the lens
would prove him sane."
~"The exposure of William H. Mumler", J.C. Runolfson

I've listed my three favorites from this issue, but really the entire thing is brilliant. So check it out.

Cinder and Literary Links

The 2011 Cybils Finalists list is out. I haven't read any of the books nominated! Based on plot descriptions, I'm most interested in reading A Monster Calls, Breadcrumbs, and Tuesdays at the Castle (which I wanted to read last year, but didn't have time to get to it), which are all nominated in the Middle Grade Fantasy & Science Fiction category. Breadcrumbs is a modern retelling of "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Anderson. I thought the tile alluded to Hansel and Gretel, but I'm happier to see a lesser known tale being told.

Fireside magazine is $500 short of their goal on Kickstarter. If funded, Fireside will be a many genres magazine that pays 12.5 cents/word. 12.5 CENTS. That's well over the professional rate of .05 cents/word. The goal is to pay writers a living wage. I donated $10, which gets me a PDF, eBook, and print version of the first issue. You will receive a PDF for as little as a $2 donation.

Walter Dean Myers has been named National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. I haven't read any of Mr. Myers' work, but I think I need to start. I particularly like this quote from the article:

“We all know we should eat right and we should exercise, but reading is treated as if it’s this wonderful adjunct. ‘Reading takes you to faraway places,’ ” Myers said. “We’re still thinking in terms of enticing kids to read with a sports book or a book about war. We’re suggesting that they’re missing something if they don’t read but, actually, we’re condemning kids to a lesser life. If you had a sick patient, you would not try to entice them to take their medicine. You would tell them, ‘Take this or you’re going to die.’ We need to tell kids flat out: reading is not optional.”

This is why I buy books for people even when they don't ask me to, and why I give books to my 10-year-old cousin. We live in a time when reading is severely undervalued. We need to give books to kids and let young readers know they'll be so much smarter than most people and probably feel less insecure the more they read. Be that dreaded aunt or uncle who gives kids horrible footie pajamas for birthdays--but instead of pajamas, give books. Put up with kids rolling their eyes behind your back when they unwrap a book. Take small children to the library, let them get involved with kids who are also readers, get them excited about ALL THE FREE BOOKS they can borrow. Call teenagers out on their mental lethargy (I was one, I remember). Will it shame a kid into reading? Maybe, and that might make you feel guilty. But guess what? Saying reading is for losers or geeks is something to feel ashamed of. I bet a lot of kids who don't read because it's uncool already feel ashamed. We need to show them being a reader will make them feel proud.

And now to talk about the latest YA faerie tale retelling to hit the block...

Cinder is Marissa Meyer's SF retelling of Cinderella, in which Cinder is a cyborg living in New Beijing. At first I thought that meant Cinder was Chinese, but soon found out Cinder is from Europe. However, Prince Kaito and other supporting characters are Chinese so you'll get a good dose of diversity in Cinder. Though, Kaito does sound like a Japanese name so I wonder if Meyer is imagining a future with a cultured mash up of Japanese and Chinese cultures. (Kaitou means thief in Japanese, if I recall correctly. Hmm, Prince Kaito, thief of hearts?)

Publishers Weekly calls Cinder a feminist retelling of Cinderella. I think that goes a bit too far. Cinder is a book some feminists will enjoy and applaud, but I think the label "feminist retelling" is better reserved for texts with a much stronger hand in feminist issues. PW also claims Cinder and Kaito meet as equals, which is completely untrue. He may be in disguise when they meet, but she still knows his identity.

This is the first retelling I've read in which the Cinderella character enjoys the work she is put to by her stepmother. Cinder is a mechanic--the best in New Beijing, it is said--who gets pride out of her work, is skilled at it, and wants to continue her work as a mechanic if she can escape from her stepmother. It's interesting seeing the work set outside the home. Cinder has more agency over how she goes about her work than any other Cinderella I've read. ' Queen of Glass is coming out in autumn, and tells a story of Cinderella as an assassin sent to the ball to kill the prince. I can't wait to see how her work ethic is represented in that one, too.

Meyer twists some of the famous elements of Cinderella into heartbreaking struggles for Cinder. She purchases a new cyborg foot in the opening scene that becomes a point of contention between her and her stepmother, which leads to certain losses of freedom and dignity for Cinder.

SPOILERS BELOW

Cinder deals with beauty and ugliness explicitly, examining the former as a weapon of power and the latter as a source of condemnation. A race of people called Lunars, from the kingdom on the moon, use glamours--bioelectrical manipulation--to enhance their looks, and manipulate the feelings of others toward them in order to create a docile and complicit society.

The Lunar queen Levana is famous for using glamours, and no one knows her actual appearance. Cinder, of course, is naturally beautiful, but through a series of events arrives at the ball in a grease stained dress with grease stained gloves to match, soaked from the rain after she walked away from a car crash. Cinder's ability to walk into a room full of upper class snobs is inspiring and hilarious. What grates me is her discovery that Levana is ugly, and the ensuing attempt on Cinder's life by Levana. Levana attempts to kill anyone trying to expose her ugliness as if it can somehow take away her magical and political power. It can take away neither, and so she is always in a position of safety. Without her back story, it doesn't make much sense as to why she is so obsessed with hiding her ugliness.

In Cinder we have natural beauty as good, and false beauty as evil. Queen Levana is evil with or without her beauty. Cinder is beautiful, but her metal cyborg parts are considered ugly. She wasn't born ugly, so she is good? Born ugly equals being evil?