Reading Response #4

Upon reading into the last chapters of WolfMoon by Charles De Lint, I started to become more awake as too what was going on. Kern faces his greatest fear, as he has been set-up by the harper. “There was a smell in the air, familiar, sharp, and acrid. And then his eyes adjusted to the glare and he need ask his question no more. He saw what was left of Tolly. The boy had been ravaged by some beast. Half his face was gone. Blood soaked his nightshirt and splattered the snow, dark and red against the white.” [154-155] The harper struck first, and turned all of Kern’s friends against him. Luckily before being killed in front of everyone, kern mustered up the strength to escape. “One moment he crouched, muscles bunched to spring, the next he was off, around the barn, the crisp snow under his paws, the shirt flapping about him. He took the time to roll against a bush and tear it from him before running on, unencumbered. And unpursued. From then on, after Kern had left, his followers would feel the harper’s wrath. The inn-keepers now had no protection against such a person who terrorized them into thinking Kern was guilty. Through the chapters, Charles goes into detail about the harpers actions. “He directed Tomtim and Wat to the window to nail up boards to shut out the storm. You draw the wolf, he said to Ainsy.” The inn-keepers were under the harpers control, except for the one individual who stood out, Fion. She was the only one who was not affected by the harper and his advances. Charles takes WolfMoon to the point where Fion sneaks out to consult Kern and tell him how she feels. “Kern please, she said. Hear me out. I’ve come here on my own. Stram led me. I know what Tuiloch’s done to us, to you.”[205] Together as a team, did Kern have the strength to confront the harper, but such a thing would not be easy, they needed a solid plan. As I continued reading, every page was full of intense imagery and details. I thought to myself, what if Kern fails? What will happen to all of the innocent people then? Charles’ paints the scene where Kern finally makes his appearance, to face the harper. “he came in at a run, snow spraying underfoot. He saw the bulky shape of the feragh come quicksilvering toward him, trying to cut him off, but he had too great a lead. Choosing a window, he leaped at it, curling himself into a ball as he struck it. His thick shoulder hair prevented the glass from penetrating deep enough to pierce his skin. He could sense the feragh at the window.” [226] The imagery Charles creates continues as Kern defeats the harper, with Fions help. “he fell back, nursing his hand, trying to concentrate on Tuiloch, on the harper’s next move. But that move never came. The blade thrust up from Tuiloch’s chest and his face was so contorted that it seemed a stranger’s. WolfMoon, through the writing of Charles De Lint brings something special out in all readers. The archetypal pattern he illustrates is very notable, but with a series of conflicts resulting in the Hero facing his worst fear, to protect those that he loves.

Reading Response #3

After the rescue of Ainsy’s uncle (Tomtin) everything begins to go back to normal. However, the author does not let this continue. Instead of making the story full of happiness like most readers enjoy, Charles throws another curveball. A gathering occurs in a town a fair bit off, but the center of attention is Kern’s enemy, a harper. He seizes the opportunity to go with the inn-dwellers to this magical event. He seeks to get even by destroying the harper, thus bringing peace to the land again. At first the author gives the reader with the allusion that the harper does not recognize Kern. “He passed over Kern without a flicker of recognition. He saw me only in wolfshape, Kern thought. Why should he recognize me now as a man? Perhaps i’m still safe and the secret’s mine alone.”[110] The harper continued throughout the evening, until he started to tell a tale. “Listen, and I will tell you the tale of Tascar, the Wehr-wulf. Now his eyes were for Kern alone. They impaled him with their strength of will, stripped the manflesh to bare the wolf inside.”[112] Through these lines I found that this “harper” was a very magical foe. It would only be through determination and strength that Kern could stand up against such a thing. The author indicates that Kern must make a decision. He must rise to face the harper before time is out, or there could be a much different fate. “But as he stabled the horse and made his way into the inn, another concern rose in him. What if the harper struck at him through Ainsy or one of the others? He’d kept that fear at the back of his mind, but standing in the courtyard, feeling the close warmth of the inn and its occupants all around him, it surfaced stronger than ever. Must he go? Could he risk their lives by staying? [118] As said, this is one of the inner pressures Kern faces. He almost can see the future, but has no idea how to stop the onslaught. However, before Kern can make his move, the conflict is brought to his inn. His thought we’re correct that the harper would strike at him through his Ainsy. The harper uses his charm and persuasiveness to control Ainsy . “When I first saw you at the foxfire, I knew I must know you better.”[136] Kern’s inner struggle would continue, and it would only be when the harper was vanquished that his love would return. He words meant nothing, as long as the harper was around. Charles continues the story with tensions growing deeper between Kern and the harper, only one would win in the end. The conflict arising between these two very magical characters prompted me to continue painting the imagery.

Reading Response #2

The next part of WolfMoon mainly deals with Kern, his life and challenges at the inn and his charm toward a girl at the inn. Charles’ technique to make the reader believe they are a part of the story is fantastic. He makes the reader have the urge to put the details together and create the picture. His descriptive imagery is present when Kern is walking beside his new friend, Ainsy. “They walked side by side, not touching, but Ainsy’s scent filled his nostrils with the heady perfume that was uniquely hers and, close as she was, he could almost feel her body heat like fire on his skin.” [66] The affection between these characters grows more, and Kern feels that this girl has won his affection without effort. Kern feeling very close to this girl promises that he would never see her hurt. These are very magical words between lovers, and even at an early stage to their affection for one another, he knows his heart is only for her. Everything continues for the next while lovely as the two progress closer to each other. To not lead the reader away, Charles then throws in that a mysterious man arrives at the inn, and reveals information about Ainsy’s lost uncle. “I saw a wagon just like you’ve described in the pass this evening. It was late and getting on dark, when I saw it sitting a ways off the road under some pines. I gave it a hail, but there was no answer and I didn’t have time to go have a look-see.”[75] The story’s theme then moves into another conflict and rescue, as Kern the main character, goes to find out the situation on Ainsy’s uncle. Upon arrival, Kern is faced with a painful decision. Charles’ Style turned Kern into a hero, but not the usual type. He turned Kern into something between that of two worlds. “He rose to his feet and willed the change, stopping it partway. Red fur covered his body, but he remained upright. His neck sank low against his chest. His face lengthened, mannish teeth becoming wolfish fangs. His legs were bowed somewhat, but the thrust of a half-grown tail from the posterior balanced him. He rumbled a threatening growl low in his chest and loosed it through lips that were neither man’s nor beast’s. The sound rose up from his diaphragm, low and resonating, inhuman.”[85] By reading through the imagery, I could paint the picture of this man changing into something unrealistic. Charles’ use of descriptive words fall hand-in-hand with his plot, as he creates the hero in the form of a beast. The story folds into some beautiful and tragic, as Kern faces new conflicts, and inner pressures.

Reading Response #1

The first sentence in WolfMoon by Charles De Lint, brought an eerie feeling. Starting with “The music stopped” [1] it already had me involved and eager to continue. Immense details about a “wolf” paint out all of his very actions, his feelings, senses and even the atmosphere around him to the reader. Continuing onto the 2^nd and 3^rd page, I realised that this “wolf” was being stalked by a powerful and menacing beast. The “stalk” brought me closer into the story, and eager to read what would take place. The style of Charles De Lint is fantastic, as even in the first 3 pages there is an eerie starting line, a conflict with a beast stalking another, and immense details about everything going on. From the 5^th page the confrontation between the beasts is nearing. “The feragh was hellishly close. Its reek clogged the wolf’s nostrils. The music fired his mind with scalding flames, numbing him.” [5] These two sentences bring vast imagery as the actions and the scalding flames are painted into the readers mind. With further reading into the 6^th and 7^th pages the confrontation occurs and wounds are inflicted upon the innocent wolf. The author throws the line “With the last of his strength, before the creature could strike its final blow, he heaved himself over the cliff to plummet to the waters far below. [6] Immediately after reading this I wanted to know what happened to the wolf, whether or not if he survived the fall. The next line on Page 7 brings an eerie feeling of imagery itself “Then he saw something red bobbing downstream, watched it strike a boulder before the current dragged it under once more.”[7] Thus already in the first 8 pages, there is a conflict, there is also a vast amount of imagery and it pinned me to the book. The second chapter introduces more characters and them finding a man who had washed up. As I read I connected that the man must have been the wolf as he was hurt in the same areas described from the attack. “His left shoulder was gashed as though some wild animal had clawed him and he was streaked with mud “. [18] A wolf that can change into a man must have some very unique characteristics i thought as i continued reading. He was brought to an inn, and was healed generously by the inn-keepers. It wasn’t until the 3^rd Chapter that I uncovered what the Man’s name was, Kern. The author did not reveal his name until the reader was engrossed into the story. So as a recap, the first 60 pages included: a conflict, confrontation, vast imagery, rescue, introduction of many characters good and evil, and the style of Charles De Lint’s writing.