Deathless
by Catherynne M. Valente
Koschei the Deathless is to Russian folklore what devils or wicked witches are to European culture: a menacing, evil figure; the villain of countless stories which have been passed on through story and text for generations. But Koschei has never before been seen through the eyes of Catherynne Valente, whose modernized and transformed take on the legend brings the action to modern times, spanning many of the great developments of Russian history in the twentieth century.
Deathless, however, is no dry, historical tome: it lights up like fire as the young Marya Morevna transforms from a clever child of the revolution, to Koschei’s beautiful bride, to his eventual undoing. Along the way there are Stalinist house elves, magical quests, secrecy and bureaucracy, and games of lust and power. All told, Deathless is a collision of magical history and actual history, of revolution and mythology, of love and death, which will bring Russian myth back to life in a stunning new incarnation.
When I first picked up Deathless, I expected an interesting retelling of a Russian fairy tale. Unconventional? I’ll take that! I can totally handle it. I was not prepared to have my heart wrung by such a magical, complicated novel!
In the original Russian folktale, Marya Morevna is a warrior queen (YAAS!) who marries Ivan Tsarevich and tells him to never ever enter the basement. Ivan, however, goes into the basement and discovers an old man (Koschei the Deathless) who asks for water, and after he drinks some water, Koschei vanquishes Ivan and takes Marya Morevna away. A long struggle ensues, ending with the death of Koschei.
I've heard some drastically different views about this book, some saying it's amazing at portraying Russian culture, while others say it's a blatant cultural appropriation. I'm not an expert on Russian culture or folklore, so I enter this with a clean slate of a mind. I can see a distinct Russian tint to the story, and it's obvious the author has done extensive research to write such books. I absolutely adore the quaintness of this culture I'm not familiar with: all the name variations and the combination of rigidity and passion; I'm sure I've barely scratched the surface here. While I'm not endorsing cultural appropriation, a retelling is a retelling. It's definitely going to have new views and perspectives to it.
Deathless puts a huge spin on it by essentially creating a prequel to the tale; Koschei and Marya Morevna are actually married first and are always in love with each other. The story begins with Marya watching birds fall out of trees and becoming men who court and marry her sisters. With her eyes opened to the secrets of this world, Marya swears to know everything instead of blindly living in a world she doesn’t understand. Then she discovers magical creatures and the existence of Koschei the Deathless, who whisks her away to his kingdom to be his Tsaritsa. I love how Marya evolves from a weak, innocent girl amazed by a magical world to a determined, experienced woman who survives any ordeal. She learns much from everyone and makes her own unapologetic choices.
“But if you must be clever, then be clever. Be brave. Sleep with fists closed and shoot straight.”
“First, the avid student must be aware that when the world was young it knew only seven things: water, life and death, salt, night, birds and the length of an hour.”
Each of the seven things is controlled by a Tsar or a Tsaritsa, with Koschei the Deathless being the Tsar of Life, and he is perhaps the most intricate character in the whole book. In this book, Life is portrayed in an unconventional way; instead of all flower crowns, green fields, and frolicking puppies, the Tsar of Life can be cruel, selfish, and utterly uncaring. In a way, the Tsar of Life and his brother, the Tsar of Death, are very alike. Koschei is deathless because he removed his death and stored it in the eye of a needle in an egg in a dog in a cow, and whoever destroys the egg will kill Koschei. Koschei’s love for Marya is also selfish and wolfish, frequently bordering on an uncomfortable cruelty. However, he is also very vulnerable in this romance, because he has already lived so long and been betrayed by so many women. They all ran off with men named Ivan and destroyed his death. But he always comes back to life again, and his story repeats. Koschei knows Marya is going to betray him, but he still loves her and makes himself weak before her. Even after Marya goes off with her Ivan, Koschei seeks her and willingly surrender himself to be bound in her basement. I’m completely in love with this infinitely more complex version of the evil Koschei the Deathless.
"For you alone I will be weak."
“That's how you get deathless, volchitsa. Walk the same tale over and over, until you wear a groove in the world, until even if you vanished, the tale would keep turning, keep playing, like a phonograph, and you'd have to get up again, even with a bullet through your eye, to play your part and say your lines.”
“How I adore you, Marya. How well I chose. Scold me; deny me. Tell me you want what you want and damn me forever. But don’t leave me.”
Valente gives us vivid, intriguing minor characters that support the plot and the atmosphere. Many of them in this story are based on the original tale, such as Baba Yaga, Ivan, and the sisters with their husbands. Some other magical creatures are also extremely fun, like gun goblins, tree spirits, and talking animals. They deliver some of the most philosophical, memorable lines of the novel.
“Remember this when you are queen,” he whispered hoarsely. “I moved the earth and the water for you.”
Besides characters, I have to rave about the setting and the atmosphere! Valente changes the flavor of the old tale by transporting it to the twentieth century, when Europe and Russia were heaving with great turmoils. Elements of that time period include the title Comrades, many socialistic, communistic ideas, and the hard times Russia experienced. All these give the story an underlying bleakness that often surface and seep into the plot. However, fantasy abound in the magical realm of the Tsars. Houses wear braids, geysers gush blood, and cars run around on chicken legs. This heady juxtaposition and combination of the realistic and the fantastical gives Deathless its unique essence.
The ending...I still haven’t moved on from that. All along I subconsciously expected a happy ending or at least a finality to the tale (I blame you, Disney!), so the ending took me by surprise. It’s so confusing and eerie and desolate that I had to read it twice, because I didn’t understand its meaning. I did not ask for this.
Deathless is a gem I discovered way too late. I’m enchanted by the lyrical, exquisite prose Valente composes. You can see that from how I pepper this review with quotes from this book. The plot is loopy and baffling at places, but I absolutely dig it. It’s been such a long time since a book stirred my feelings like this. If you enjoy fairy tale retellings or lyrical writing style, Deathless is so the book for you!
“First, the avid student must be aware that when the world was young it knew only seven things: water, life and death, salt, night, birds and the length of an hour.”
Each of the seven things is controlled by a Tsar or a Tsaritsa, with Koschei the Deathless being the Tsar of Life, and he is perhaps the most intricate character in the whole book. In this book, Life is portrayed in an unconventional way; instead of all flower crowns, green fields, and frolicking puppies, the Tsar of Life can be cruel, selfish, and utterly uncaring. In a way, the Tsar of Life and his brother, the Tsar of Death, are very alike. Koschei is deathless because he removed his death and stored it in the eye of a needle in an egg in a dog in a cow, and whoever destroys the egg will kill Koschei. Koschei’s love for Marya is also selfish and wolfish, frequently bordering on an uncomfortable cruelty. However, he is also very vulnerable in this romance, because he has already lived so long and been betrayed by so many women. They all ran off with men named Ivan and destroyed his death. But he always comes back to life again, and his story repeats. Koschei knows Marya is going to betray him, but he still loves her and makes himself weak before her. Even after Marya goes off with her Ivan, Koschei seeks her and willingly surrender himself to be bound in her basement. I’m completely in love with this infinitely more complex version of the evil Koschei the Deathless.
"For you alone I will be weak."
“That's how you get deathless, volchitsa. Walk the same tale over and over, until you wear a groove in the world, until even if you vanished, the tale would keep turning, keep playing, like a phonograph, and you'd have to get up again, even with a bullet through your eye, to play your part and say your lines.”
I’m still iffy about the sadomasochistic element Valente imposed on the story. Throughout their romance, Koschei and Marya’s love is rough and raw, making me slightly uncomfortable. While it kind of explains why Koschei is chained to a wall in Marya’s basement—to make him worthy of her, I don't believe loving someone would ever allow me to torture them...oh well.
“How I adore you, Marya. How well I chose. Scold me; deny me. Tell me you want what you want and damn me forever. But don’t leave me.”
Valente gives us vivid, intriguing minor characters that support the plot and the atmosphere. Many of them in this story are based on the original tale, such as Baba Yaga, Ivan, and the sisters with their husbands. Some other magical creatures are also extremely fun, like gun goblins, tree spirits, and talking animals. They deliver some of the most philosophical, memorable lines of the novel.
“Remember this when you are queen,” he whispered hoarsely. “I moved the earth and the water for you.”
Besides characters, I have to rave about the setting and the atmosphere! Valente changes the flavor of the old tale by transporting it to the twentieth century, when Europe and Russia were heaving with great turmoils. Elements of that time period include the title Comrades, many socialistic, communistic ideas, and the hard times Russia experienced. All these give the story an underlying bleakness that often surface and seep into the plot. However, fantasy abound in the magical realm of the Tsars. Houses wear braids, geysers gush blood, and cars run around on chicken legs. This heady juxtaposition and combination of the realistic and the fantastical gives Deathless its unique essence.
The ending...I still haven’t moved on from that. All along I subconsciously expected a happy ending or at least a finality to the tale (I blame you, Disney!), so the ending took me by surprise. It’s so confusing and eerie and desolate that I had to read it twice, because I didn’t understand its meaning. I did not ask for this.
Deathless is a gem I discovered way too late. I’m enchanted by the lyrical, exquisite prose Valente composes. You can see that from how I pepper this review with quotes from this book. The plot is loopy and baffling at places, but I absolutely dig it. It’s been such a long time since a book stirred my feelings like this. If you enjoy fairy tale retellings or lyrical writing style, Deathless is so the book for you!
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