Unquenchable Fire
by Rachel Pollack

List Price: $23.95
Our Price: $3.54
You Save: $20.41 (85%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Book Summary Information

Book Reviews of Unquenchable Fire

Book Review: A very strange but satisfying read
Summary: 4 Stars

This is not a book that I would characterize as a light, enjoyable read. It is exceedingly strange, both in form, and in the world it describes. The world of the book is loosely based on our own, although that world has been transformed by a spiritual force acting through designated tellers of stories. These stories are so apocryphal and so powerful as to have led to a "revolution" in the very nature of the world. The story is told as a narrative with bits of these world- defining recitations interspersed. The main character, a plain young woman who works servicing the shrines to the revolution, is battered by visitations that appear contrary to the ones sanctioned by the government. Her struggle to understand the meaning of her experiences is mirrored by the reader's own attempt to understand them in the context of our own, more mundane world.

It is difficult to describe the power of this book because of its very unusual nature. The oddity of this book persists throughout until the very end, when this reader (for one) experienced that moment of pure clarity and light which makes me think back on it, even thought I read it almost a year ago now. Overall, for those who like speculative and unusual fiction and who are willing to spend the time puzzling over Unquenchable Fire's deeper meanings, I would highly recommend this as one of the most striking books I have read in many years.

Lastly, the protagonist becomes pregnant during the story, and this is a central event to the narrative. I think that anyone who is expecting (as my wife was when I read this book) or is a new parent will get something extra from this book!

Literary Books

• Books > Subjects > Literature & Fiction
• Science Fiction & Fantasy