RE: Like to read? Book review thread!
May 15, 2017 at 3:21 pm
(This post was last modified: May 15, 2017 at 3:29 pm by Alex K.)
The songs of Letuvanian handmaidens
Carl F. Fisher, Random House
If 18th century culture appears alien to us, then the 18th century culture of the remote duchy of Letuvania, hidden away in the Carpathian mountains where it was shielded from the political and cultural influence of Russian and Hungarian potentates for centuries, must be doubly so, and even more so the culture of the Letuvanian handmaiden with its own language and customs which, until the second half of the 20th century, had been all but completely unknown to western scholars. The most striking insights into this world of profound, almost fanatic religiosity, servitude and attention to detail can be found in the rich musical tradition of the "lyvczseak skrygyll", the characteristic song of the Letuvanian handmaiden - high-pitched exclamations which are sparsely accompanied by the grygyll shelyctyan, the Letuvanian harp. The author manages to skillfully draw the reader into this arcane world of natural mysticism and duty from page one, and leaves us with deep insights into what it means to be a Letuvanian handmaiden - and ultimately - what it means to be human.
Carl F. Fisher, Random House
If 18th century culture appears alien to us, then the 18th century culture of the remote duchy of Letuvania, hidden away in the Carpathian mountains where it was shielded from the political and cultural influence of Russian and Hungarian potentates for centuries, must be doubly so, and even more so the culture of the Letuvanian handmaiden with its own language and customs which, until the second half of the 20th century, had been all but completely unknown to western scholars. The most striking insights into this world of profound, almost fanatic religiosity, servitude and attention to detail can be found in the rich musical tradition of the "lyvczseak skrygyll", the characteristic song of the Letuvanian handmaiden - high-pitched exclamations which are sparsely accompanied by the grygyll shelyctyan, the Letuvanian harp. The author manages to skillfully draw the reader into this arcane world of natural mysticism and duty from page one, and leaves us with deep insights into what it means to be a Letuvanian handmaiden - and ultimately - what it means to be human.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
