mysterious intent. Tricksy, the mind behind the leaves and bark and mould and hallucinogenic moss that grows nowhere else, lures and befuddles and seduces the humans who enter its domain. The narrative is so complexly nuanced,


so ambiguous, that it is left to the reader to decide whether Goodmanswood is a locus of unremitting evil or of something else: The Green Man, an entity mankind has forgotten, misunderstood, and so fears. It is just possible that the Price family is betraying its true purpose. This novel reminds me of an old fantasy short story I read in a forgotten anthology, about a Strong Man who settles in a lonely part of Africa , near a grove of trees which is the last sacred place where the spirit of Astarte dwells. The Strong Man’s not-so-strong Best Friend takes a misliking to the grove - derived from unacknowledged jealousy crossed with envy - and destroys it. Goodmanswood is not destroyed, but its will is thoroughly thwarted - at least for another generation. The question remains, is Goodmanswood part of the root of all evil, or does it hold, all unrecognized, the seed of evil’s antidote? --Reviewed by Chris R. Paige


THE SONG OF ROLAND translated by Glyn Burgess, Penguin Classics, $11.00, 210 pp.


This is a poem based on August 15, 1778 Charlemagne’s army returning home from Spain. The saga is on a


copy from Oxford. The poem is in French as well. Liked it. This is a sad epic story


of battle from an ambush. There are some problems with this classic text. Recommended to renaissance poem readers.


CoN


Highlights from Phoenix Film Festival Photos By Tatiana www.photosbytatiana.com


Volume 22 Issue 3


ConNotations


19


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