Deerskin, by Robin McKinley

Deerskin is the heartbreaking story of the princess Lissla Lissar who grows up under the shadow of her two great parents. Her parents are so in love with each other and her mother is so beautiful that most of the realm forgets that there even is a princess. When her mother dies of a disease for which there is no cure, her father is maddened with grief and never fully recovers. Growing up, Lissar’s only true friend is a fleet hound named Ash. On her 17th birthday a ball is given in her honor and it is there that everyone notices that she is the exact image of her mother. I don’t really want to say anything more about the plot because from this point on tragedy strikes and you’ll just have to read it for yourself.

Deerskin is not an easy book to read. In fact, Robin McKinley spends most of her time trying to make you uncomfortable. And it works. Most of McKinley’s books are pleasant fantasies that are exciting and interesting to read. Her Damarian books are great adventure novels, her two retellings of Beauty and the Beast are beautiful but somewhat sad at the same time, and her other novels are much the same. So when I first picked up Deerskin, I was unprepared for what I read.

This novel is about terrible tragic things and how humans cope. Most of Robin McKinley’s novels are aimed at young adults, but Deerskin demands a more mature audience. I’m not going to name an age, but this book is not for the extremely innocent or the immature. The innocent it will horrify and the immature…you can guess.

I like this book. For all that it is an uneasy read, it is a good book. It does not stay tragic, and there are happy parts. Lissar is a great interesting character, and no one who reads this book can not love Ash.

As an interesting note to those who have read Robin McKinley’s Damarian novels, Deerskin is set in the same ‘universe’ as them. It is in a terribly far away future from their point of view, but I believe they are connected. There is a comment about Aerin and Maur for the closely-reading to discover.

There are many questions I could ask Robin McKinley about this book. But out of all the questions I could ask, if I could ask one it would be to ask how Damar turned into this very different land.


Editor’s Eye:

Many times Robin McKinley makes vague comments about how things are ‘not right.’ The annoying part about these comments is that she never answers them. The characters are feeling things that the reader cannot participate in because those feelings are never described. The reader is left with trying to figure out the blank parts without any idea of what should go in them. This is a very unsatisfying way to read, and almost makes Deerskin a terrible novel. Almost. But I believe I have discovered a rationale for these unsatisfying comments. The question is, why do authors have characters make certain comments? So the reader will know how to feel. The comments McKinley leaves unfulfilled do actually tell the reader something important. They do not let the reader mentally know what is going on, but the accumulative affect of all these unfinished statements is that of feeling uneasy, curious, unhappy, and on edge. Which I believe is the overall feeling the reader is supposed to get out of the book itself based on the content. So by not finishing certain comments, McKinley is actually enhancing her story, instead of detracting from it. Of course I could be making up straw houses, but this explanation is curiously satisfying: if I believe that McKinley is a clever enough writer to do something this intelligent. Otherwise she is just a bad writer and this is a bad book.


My View: (small reminder, spoilers contained in this section)

The first time I read this book, I was almost appalled. I was so not prepared for what happened, and it came as a major shock. I mean, she gets raped by her own father! She gets pregnant! Its hard enough to hear about things like this in real life let alone read about them in what is supposed to be my relaxation time.

I definitely love the deerskin dress. It’s a magical dress that doesn’t get dirty, what’s not to like?

Anyone have a clue why the painting of Lissar’s mother is so magical/creepy? It has something to do with the apple of sorrow that her father destroyed, but I can’t quite understand how that fits in with the painting. This is my one unsatisfactory thing about the book. What’s with the painting? Feel free to add comments.