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Neil R. Coulter's Reviews > The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún, Volume 1
The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún, Volume 1 (The Girl from the Other Side, #1)
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I picked this up at the library yesterday on a whim, simply because the cover looked intriguing. I'm glad I did. It's a fantastic first part of a story. What I like about it especially is its slow, meticulous way of revealing information. The book seems to begin in the middle of a story. The author doesn't give quick, easy answers, but instead invites the reader to join the story and follow along. I always like it when a book has confidence in the reader's ability to understand and to share in the imagination of the storytelling.
The illustrations are calm, minimal, and atmospheric. They convey a sense of comfort, nostalgia, and compassion, but also a foreboding. There are elements here that remind me of some aspects of Pan's Labyrinth. All of it feels very much like a classic fairy tale, yet it isn't exactly a version of any specific fairy tale.
I can't wait to read the rest of the series--though in a way, I'll be sad to have all the questions answered. It's rather pleasant to read a story that isn't yet fully explained. I like the mystery.
The illustrations are calm, minimal, and atmospheric. They convey a sense of comfort, nostalgia, and compassion, but also a foreboding. There are elements here that remind me of some aspects of Pan's Labyrinth. All of it feels very much like a classic fairy tale, yet it isn't exactly a version of any specific fairy tale.
I can't wait to read the rest of the series--though in a way, I'll be sad to have all the questions answered. It's rather pleasant to read a story that isn't yet fully explained. I like the mystery.
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Reading Progress
July 19, 2018
–
Started Reading
July 19, 2018
–
Finished Reading
July 20, 2018
– Shelved
July 20, 2018
– Shelved as:
fiction
July 20, 2018
– Shelved as:
graphic-novels
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Jul 20, 2018 06:50AM
Omg I LOVE Pans Labryinth! I know i will love this too:) thanks for the rec!
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Sounds gorgeous! I know I love the song "Siúil, A Rún"...
Tracey wrote: "Sounds gorgeous! I know I love the song "Siúil, A Rún"..."I had to look it up--I was puzzled by Irish in a manga title. :)
Rachel wrote: "Omg I LOVE Pans Labryinth! I know i will love this too:) thanks for the rec!"I hope you do! Let me know what you think if you read it.
Neil wrote: I had to look it up--I was puzzled by Irish in a manga title. :)Here's Clannad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZP-4...
I love this manga (as you well know) and I am glad to see you have loved it yourself. You will also probably like, then, that the mystery is still a mystery by book 4 (where the English translation stops currently) and one which we see unveil slowly, steadily, and elegantly; even when I get an "answer" I am left wondering what's next or what will come about because of it. I do agree that the song "Siúil a Rún" is a great additive to this book (and also a good song), mainly because the context of the song can bleed into the context of this story, a nice little addition to an already fantastic book.
Being that "Siúil a Rún" is about two sides, and deciding which side to be on (and depending on who sings it/which rendition they choose can change the translation or to which side one picks) it can make for an interesting dichotomy that this book also puts you in, even if we are more inclined, on purpose, to sympathise with the Outside, and maybe this too, is the point--to sympathise with the unsympathizable. (As those in the Irish tradition of this song tend to choose exile versus joining their enemies army.)
Something else worth chewing over. Cannot wait to hear your thoughts on the next ones.
Carmen wrote: "I love this manga (as you well know) and I am glad to see you have loved it yourself. You will also probably like, then, that the mystery is still a mystery by book 4 (where the English translation..."Tracey wrote: "Here's Clannad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZP-4..."
After I listened to it, I realized that of course I know it, especially in the "Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier" version. I used to use it as an example in a music survey class I taught, showing how a song changes over time in different contexts.
The song has a yearning that certainly matches the emotional states of Shiva and the Teacher. "I wish, I wish, I wish in vain / I wish I had my heart again."
It's exactly my speed, if it weren't manga! I'm still undecided if manga is for me. Thank you for the rec. Who knows, maybe this will be the one that will make me an undying manga fan.
Jacklyn (ReadingBliss) wrote: "It's exactly my speed, if it weren't manga! I'm still undecided if manga is for me. Thank you for the rec. Who knows, maybe this will be the one that will make me an undying manga fan."I'm new to manga, too. I'm enjoying learning a new format, though I do miss color...
