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Fun book meme, stolen from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
saffronlie:
1. Favorite childhood book?
Dogsbody, by Dianna Wynne Jones. Oh my God, I love this book even now. Jones is an amazing writer. She's never patronising. She just assumes that you will know Sirius is the dog star (unlike JK Rowling, much as I love her, who presumed that a child wouldn't automatically know the secret of someone called Sirius or Lupin). She also uses Welsh myth extensively in her books and I'm always pleasantly surprised when I come across some mythology that she has incorporated. For instance, in this story there are strange hounds with red ears who go on a nightly hunt. I didn't learn until years later that it was referencing Welsh mythology. Geddin!
The girl who takes in the dog is an Irish girl who is constantly labelled a terrorist and treated awfully by her English family. Again, I wasn't quite old enough to understand why this was happening but it's great to have an author who doesn't shy away from this stuff. Howl's Moving Castle et al are also great stories but this is my absolute favourite of hers.
2. What are you reading right now?
Still on my Robespierre book, re-reading Crime and Punishment and a book about Prescot's history.
3. What books do you have on request at the library?
None. I should go to the library more often but I'm a wastrel and tend to just buy books I want.
4. Bad book habit?
Sneering at anything with a pink cover and curly text.
5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
Um... a book on the Spanish Civil War that's pretty overdue.
6. Do you have an e-reader?
No. I find it hard to concentrate on reading a screen for any amount of time. I like the feel of a book.
7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
Several at a time.
8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
...No?
9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
The Glass Palace. I loved it at first it rapidly went downhill. I don't know why.
10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
I can't quite remember my favourite of 2010. It was probably a re-read.
11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Quite often, I think.
12. What is your reading comfort zone?
Historical biography and literary fiction.
13. Can you read on the bus?
Yes.
14. Favorite place to read?
On the beach.
15. What is your policy on book lending?
Happy to do that, but I hate when people crack the spine or dog-ear the pages.
16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
No. My dad ingrained it into me never to do that. I feel like it's disrespectful to the book!
17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Ony ever in academic texts.
18. Not even with text books?
Uh, I just said I did.
19. What is your favorite language to read in?
English. I try to read in French sometimes to keep up the language rather than for any joy. I read a copy of Interview With the Vampire in Spanish and loved how the language flowed.
20. What makes you love a book?
Good writing. Something that transports me to a different place or time effortlessly. Something that makes me think or want to quote it aloud to people.
21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
If it was awesome. That's really about it.
22. Favorite genre?
Pfft.
23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
I definitely need to read more non-fiction, though I'm getting better at that.
24. Favorite biography?
Probably Antonia Fraser's Marie Antoinette. That she was able to rehabilitate one of the most reviled figures in history over two hundred years later is amazing. I also really liked Young Stalin by Simon Sebag-Montefiore.
25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
Yes. I don't like them.
26. Favourite cookbook?
Anything by Jamie Oliver, which is a very standard answer but I love him. I also have a really neat Greek cookery book that gives me awesome inspiration.
27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
Probably some biography.
28. Favorite reading snack?
Anything to hand. A glass of wine?
29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
Cloud Atlas. If anyone tries to tell me I don't get it, I'll get stabby.
30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
Usually quite a bit. Sometimes they get it really, really wrong for me (see above) or patronisingly recommend some Emperor's New Clothes novel by an up-and-coming literary star who turns out to be a hack.
31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I have no reservations about reviewing, either way! I've paid £7 for this book and you just bored me for a week. I'm going to write about it!
32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose?
I'd love to be super-fluent in French so I could read all these old French books I have without struggling. Latin would also be neat.
33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
Finnegans Wake because wat.
34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
Pfft, none.
35. Favourite Poet?
WB Yeats, Blake
36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
Stop with the library questions!
37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
Argh
38. Favourite fictional character?
There are so many! I'll pick Alyosha Karamazov because I love his humanity, his steadfast belief in his brother even when he knows that all the evidence points to him having committed the crime and the fact that his presence in a book of characters who are complete arseholes is very welcome.
39. Favorite fictional villain?
Javert from Les Miserables. I hate him but he certainly worked! HE GOT ME SO ANGRY. Actually, the only other villain who got me in an actual rage was Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter. Heehee.
40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
Big fat, satisfyingly profound reads. My holidays are a time for reflection and pretending I live in a Francois Sagat novel.
41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
A couple of months or so.
42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
I lost interest in The Glass Palace halfway through, which was disappointing; it had a great beginning.
43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Very little. I'm good at zoning out.
44. Favourite film adaptation of a novel?
I think the film of Let the Right One In is far superior to the novel on which it was based. I also loved the adaptations of Atonement, Holes and agree withsaffronlie on White Oleander. The Shawshank Redemption was sublime and Fight Club had more energy than the book. Also, Tom Hardy will forever be Heathcliff for me and I don't care who complains that he was in his late twenties when he played him.
45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
So many! The Illiad (Troy, and yeahiknow), Queen of the Damned, some terrible adaptation of Crime and Punishment I saw once and Fantastic Mr. Fox which was just freaky.
I didn't really like the film adaptation of Interview With the Vampire. I mean, I love Neil Jordan and the sets and costumes were lovely, but Brad Pitt really ruined it with his somnambulant version of Louis. It also suffered from some ruthless editing - I'd love to see a director's cut some day.
46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
Probably on a spending spree in Waterstones after receiving vouchers. Haha.
47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
I never used to but I've developed a terrible habit whereby if it looks like it's going to be a tragic!ending, I have to prepare myself for this fact. Likewise if a favourite character disappears, I want to know if they're coming back. It's a stupid, counterproductive habit and I need to stop.
48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
If it was really bad or glamourised something I strongly disagree with. I remember reading a book by George Eliot and just being really pissed off at all the long-winded descriptions of the thrill of bloodsports, so I threw it. My personal scruples shouldn't come into enjoying art but I suppose if I'm reading for pleasure and it's not bringing me pleasure, it's okay.
49. Do you like to keep your books organised?
Not really. The best books go on the highest shelf, the worst on the lower shelf to punish them. That's about it.
50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
I'm going to agree withsaffronlie on this one: I'm building my life's collection of books and as such I don't really give many away. I spend a lot on books and hunt down rare editions and older books and I'm not just going to give them away as soon as I've read them.
51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
About twenty books friends have given to me. I'll get around to them, I swear!
52. Name a book that made you angry.
Tale of the Body Thief, which is by no means the worst in the Vampire Chronicles, but which seemed really off to me compared to its predecessors. I really, really hated it. I've calmed down about it now and really enjoy some parts of it but my God, I re-read a chapter of it the other day and you can really see Anne Rice's arrogant voice beginning to come through. It's full of sentences beginning with 'understand', crappy film obsessions and a meandering style which struck me as slightly demented and God-bothering. I didn't like the tone/writing style of it at all, though obviously lots of VC fans do. Again, it's not really that bad a book. I think it was just because I had come away from reading the first three all starry eyed and in love with this author and then I was all, 'uh... I'm not ready to be disappointed in you yet.'
Let's add Cloud Atlas yet again to this meme, as well as The Wisdom of Crocodiles, on which I spent £15 when I was a very poor student. I went hungry for that pile of crap. It was written by some pretentious pleb in a polo neck (how I hated that author photo) for people who don't like literature. It's on Amazon with reviews from the author's friends. No, really. The film adaptation was surprisingly fun (and the reason I bought the book) although that's because it takes the entire plot of one chapter and uses that for the story.
53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
I always say this but let me say it again: The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, by Melissa Bank. She was betrayed by the publisher giving it a nice little flowery chicklit cover but it's brilliant! It's muted and sad in some parts, dealing with death, life-affirming in others. Dudettes, read it.
54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
Cloud Atlas. Also, The Kite Runner which everyone told me was ~sublime~ and ~genius~ when in fact it is the most hackneyed tripe I have ever had the misfortune to inflict upon my eyeballs. It's such an absurd book, I don't know where to begin.
55. Favourite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
I don't feel guilty about my reading. Maybe going back and reading some of those Point Horror books in my collection occasionally?
saffronlie: 1. Favorite childhood book?
Dogsbody, by Dianna Wynne Jones. Oh my God, I love this book even now. Jones is an amazing writer. She's never patronising. She just assumes that you will know Sirius is the dog star (unlike JK Rowling, much as I love her, who presumed that a child wouldn't automatically know the secret of someone called Sirius or Lupin). She also uses Welsh myth extensively in her books and I'm always pleasantly surprised when I come across some mythology that she has incorporated. For instance, in this story there are strange hounds with red ears who go on a nightly hunt. I didn't learn until years later that it was referencing Welsh mythology. Geddin!
The girl who takes in the dog is an Irish girl who is constantly labelled a terrorist and treated awfully by her English family. Again, I wasn't quite old enough to understand why this was happening but it's great to have an author who doesn't shy away from this stuff. Howl's Moving Castle et al are also great stories but this is my absolute favourite of hers.
2. What are you reading right now?
Still on my Robespierre book, re-reading Crime and Punishment and a book about Prescot's history.
3. What books do you have on request at the library?
None. I should go to the library more often but I'm a wastrel and tend to just buy books I want.
4. Bad book habit?
Sneering at anything with a pink cover and curly text.
5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
Um... a book on the Spanish Civil War that's pretty overdue.
6. Do you have an e-reader?
No. I find it hard to concentrate on reading a screen for any amount of time. I like the feel of a book.
7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
Several at a time.
8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
...No?
9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
The Glass Palace. I loved it at first it rapidly went downhill. I don't know why.
10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
I can't quite remember my favourite of 2010. It was probably a re-read.
11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Quite often, I think.
12. What is your reading comfort zone?
Historical biography and literary fiction.
13. Can you read on the bus?
Yes.
14. Favorite place to read?
On the beach.
15. What is your policy on book lending?
Happy to do that, but I hate when people crack the spine or dog-ear the pages.
16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
No. My dad ingrained it into me never to do that. I feel like it's disrespectful to the book!
17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Ony ever in academic texts.
18. Not even with text books?
Uh, I just said I did.
19. What is your favorite language to read in?
English. I try to read in French sometimes to keep up the language rather than for any joy. I read a copy of Interview With the Vampire in Spanish and loved how the language flowed.
20. What makes you love a book?
Good writing. Something that transports me to a different place or time effortlessly. Something that makes me think or want to quote it aloud to people.
21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
If it was awesome. That's really about it.
22. Favorite genre?
Pfft.
23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
I definitely need to read more non-fiction, though I'm getting better at that.
24. Favorite biography?
Probably Antonia Fraser's Marie Antoinette. That she was able to rehabilitate one of the most reviled figures in history over two hundred years later is amazing. I also really liked Young Stalin by Simon Sebag-Montefiore.
25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
Yes. I don't like them.
26. Favourite cookbook?
Anything by Jamie Oliver, which is a very standard answer but I love him. I also have a really neat Greek cookery book that gives me awesome inspiration.
27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
Probably some biography.
28. Favorite reading snack?
Anything to hand. A glass of wine?
29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
Cloud Atlas. If anyone tries to tell me I don't get it, I'll get stabby.
30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
Usually quite a bit. Sometimes they get it really, really wrong for me (see above) or patronisingly recommend some Emperor's New Clothes novel by an up-and-coming literary star who turns out to be a hack.
31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I have no reservations about reviewing, either way! I've paid £7 for this book and you just bored me for a week. I'm going to write about it!
32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose?
I'd love to be super-fluent in French so I could read all these old French books I have without struggling. Latin would also be neat.
33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
Finnegans Wake because wat.
34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
Pfft, none.
35. Favourite Poet?
WB Yeats, Blake
36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
Stop with the library questions!
37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
Argh
38. Favourite fictional character?
There are so many! I'll pick Alyosha Karamazov because I love his humanity, his steadfast belief in his brother even when he knows that all the evidence points to him having committed the crime and the fact that his presence in a book of characters who are complete arseholes is very welcome.
39. Favorite fictional villain?
Javert from Les Miserables. I hate him but he certainly worked! HE GOT ME SO ANGRY. Actually, the only other villain who got me in an actual rage was Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter. Heehee.
40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
Big fat, satisfyingly profound reads. My holidays are a time for reflection and pretending I live in a Francois Sagat novel.
41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
A couple of months or so.
42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
I lost interest in The Glass Palace halfway through, which was disappointing; it had a great beginning.
43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Very little. I'm good at zoning out.
44. Favourite film adaptation of a novel?
I think the film of Let the Right One In is far superior to the novel on which it was based. I also loved the adaptations of Atonement, Holes and agree with
saffronlie on White Oleander. The Shawshank Redemption was sublime and Fight Club had more energy than the book. Also, Tom Hardy will forever be Heathcliff for me and I don't care who complains that he was in his late twenties when he played him.45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
So many! The Illiad (Troy, and yeahiknow), Queen of the Damned, some terrible adaptation of Crime and Punishment I saw once and Fantastic Mr. Fox which was just freaky.
I didn't really like the film adaptation of Interview With the Vampire. I mean, I love Neil Jordan and the sets and costumes were lovely, but Brad Pitt really ruined it with his somnambulant version of Louis. It also suffered from some ruthless editing - I'd love to see a director's cut some day.
46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
Probably on a spending spree in Waterstones after receiving vouchers. Haha.
47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
I never used to but I've developed a terrible habit whereby if it looks like it's going to be a tragic!ending, I have to prepare myself for this fact. Likewise if a favourite character disappears, I want to know if they're coming back. It's a stupid, counterproductive habit and I need to stop.
48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
If it was really bad or glamourised something I strongly disagree with. I remember reading a book by George Eliot and just being really pissed off at all the long-winded descriptions of the thrill of bloodsports, so I threw it. My personal scruples shouldn't come into enjoying art but I suppose if I'm reading for pleasure and it's not bringing me pleasure, it's okay.
49. Do you like to keep your books organised?
Not really. The best books go on the highest shelf, the worst on the lower shelf to punish them. That's about it.
50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
I'm going to agree with
saffronlie on this one: I'm building my life's collection of books and as such I don't really give many away. I spend a lot on books and hunt down rare editions and older books and I'm not just going to give them away as soon as I've read them. 51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
About twenty books friends have given to me. I'll get around to them, I swear!
52. Name a book that made you angry.
Tale of the Body Thief, which is by no means the worst in the Vampire Chronicles, but which seemed really off to me compared to its predecessors. I really, really hated it. I've calmed down about it now and really enjoy some parts of it but my God, I re-read a chapter of it the other day and you can really see Anne Rice's arrogant voice beginning to come through. It's full of sentences beginning with 'understand', crappy film obsessions and a meandering style which struck me as slightly demented and God-bothering. I didn't like the tone/writing style of it at all, though obviously lots of VC fans do. Again, it's not really that bad a book. I think it was just because I had come away from reading the first three all starry eyed and in love with this author and then I was all, 'uh... I'm not ready to be disappointed in you yet.'
Let's add Cloud Atlas yet again to this meme, as well as The Wisdom of Crocodiles, on which I spent £15 when I was a very poor student. I went hungry for that pile of crap. It was written by some pretentious pleb in a polo neck (how I hated that author photo) for people who don't like literature. It's on Amazon with reviews from the author's friends. No, really. The film adaptation was surprisingly fun (and the reason I bought the book) although that's because it takes the entire plot of one chapter and uses that for the story.
53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
I always say this but let me say it again: The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, by Melissa Bank. She was betrayed by the publisher giving it a nice little flowery chicklit cover but it's brilliant! It's muted and sad in some parts, dealing with death, life-affirming in others. Dudettes, read it.
54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
Cloud Atlas. Also, The Kite Runner which everyone told me was ~sublime~ and ~genius~ when in fact it is the most hackneyed tripe I have ever had the misfortune to inflict upon my eyeballs. It's such an absurd book, I don't know where to begin.
55. Favourite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
I don't feel guilty about my reading. Maybe going back and reading some of those Point Horror books in my collection occasionally?
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Meanness aside, why didn't I think of Umbridge for a villain?! She scared the hell out of me.
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And pfft, everyone wants to be ~me~. [/fabulous]
Umbridge got me so mad, Anna! Like, raging mad. It's amazing a villain can do that in a novel. Good times, Rowling, good times.
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Often deleted scenes don't add much besides confirmation that the editor knew what s/he was doing, but occasionally (e.g. The Terminator) you go "WHOA! Those could've changed everything!" Somehow I sense IwtV might have been like that...
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Reviewers picked up on Lestat's disappearance so many times when originally reviewing and wondering where this character had gone and why he's in that chair in New Orleans, alive, later on. It's an absurd thing to cut and I wish it had been kept.
Unfortunately, I doubt we'll ever see a director's cut (oh, those heady early days of DVD!) but a girl can dream.
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And yeah, I'm ashamed to say this but I actually forgot about Lestat in the theatre between my first and second readings of the book, probably BECAUSE the film came to dominate my memory of the story so much. It surprised the hell out of me when I did read the scene again, and felt like an essential part of the story. It's hard to understand why it was dropped, unless they thought it would conflict with some sequel they had in mind/script development. Do you have any links to good interviews online?
That's one reason I'm so excited about the re-read - as much as I enjoy the film, somehow the whole philosophy is boiled down to the problem of whether to kill or not, the existential crisis is minimized and Louis does get awfully woobified...
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Even so, I know you'd appreciate the reading so I'll see what I can uncover.
Exactly on the minimising in the film! I honestly don't mean to sound like I hate the film - I love it despite its flaws and sometimes because of them - but it presents Louis as rather one-dimensional. Of course, I still blame Brad Pitt for that.
There are so many layers to Louis's philosophy and his suffering:
1. His guilt over his brother
2. His inability to decide on things (I think I like this because I can never decide on anything)
3. To kill or not to kill
4. His love for Claudia
5. Claudia's love for him
6. Lestat's love/hate and vice-versa
7. The Quest: he needs answers but does he really? Can't he focus on something else?
8. Did he ever want to die? Will vampirism give him the answers to life that he craves?
9. The whole New World vs Old World vs. Eastern Europe thing (I am so going to explore this in my discussion post) and what that means to him, to us and to Anne Rice
10. Finally, Anne Rice's assertion in some interview I read recently that this is a story about a man who lost something when his brother died and never, ever manages to get it back. It's about his fall.
I just... I love that. I think this is why my favourite book, ever. Louis is something of a device in this book, representing the fall of modern man, our eternal quest to seek meaning. I love IWTV for this reason. I don't think the film - or any film - can encompass all these things and this philosophy in a 1.5 hour time frame.
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1. His guilt over his brother
2. His inability to decide on things (I think I like this because I can never decide on anything)
I think these two are linked, and the loss [to the film] of his guilt over Paul, which was so specific in its effect on him and in its representation of the indecision and other problems in his life, has a lot to do with the film's limitations. By divorcing him from his family, the film unfocuses from a lot of the dilemmas the book explores (not just through Louis but also Lestat, Claudia and Armand): who am I to others, and to myself, and do/should the two overlap? Could I get lost in someone else's view of me?
9. The whole New World vs Old World vs. Eastern Europe thing (I am so going to explore this in my discussion post) and what that means to him, to us and to Anne Rice
I've never thought about this much so am intrigued. I do know that the progress/regress theme is big in Dracula (Western vs. Eastern Europe), so there's that link too...
10. Finally, Anne Rice's assertion in some interview I read recently that this is a story about a man who lost something when his brother died and never, ever manages to get it back. It's about his fall.
Is that how she sees it now? That's very interesting, and it doesn't surprise me if time, ageing, experience and distance have led her to see the book from other POVs... I like the idea that Louis might be searching in Lestat, for instance, for something of the spark of life that he found in Paul. (And, this never occurred to me before, but what's the relationship between what Paul was and what was later revealed of Armand's zealot past?)
no subject
To me, it's not that so much. It's that the motivation of losing the brother is different from the motivation of losing a child. The brother is possibly holy and destroyed by Louis's egotism, something for which he will eternally atone and arguably a death that is a catalyst for much more than Claudia's passing. It also explains Louis's infatuation with Lestat, blond, angel-like (well, sometimes) and yes - also Armand.
I think you make a very valid point regarding Armand. I'd like to know how Louis's perceptions of him change when Armand's zealot past is revealed.
I've never thought about this much so am intrigued. I do know that the progress/regress theme is big in Dracula (Western vs. Eastern Europe), so there's that link too...
Yes! And think about what the encounter in Paris means. The vampires there hide behind their pretensions and mean-spirited knowingness and are far stronger than Louis and Claudia. Armand's coven with their rules and their foxiness are completely at odds with Lestat's little loose-knit coven. My question will focus on: are the American vampires portrayed as naive compared to the Parisians or is their different form of civilisation more enlightened than the Europeans?
It's really interesting that for in Dracula we have England held up as the paradigm of progress compared to Eastern Europe and IWTV throws in the chaos of post-Louisiana purchase, Newly American vampires to the mix. I find it all deeply interesting.
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To me, it's not that so much. It's that the motivation of losing the brother is different from the motivation of losing a child. The brother is possibly holy and destroyed by Louis's egotism, something for which he will eternally atone and arguably a death that is a catalyst for much more than Claudia's passing. It also explains Louis's infatuation with Lestat, blond, angel-like (well, sometimes) and yes - also Armand.
Exactly. It's easy to get caught up in the idea of it as homophobic given that homophobia was a stumbling block in a film being made for so long, and I know there's this idea that she is or was homophobic floating around fandom (you mostly see it attached either to the change to IwtV, or to Quinn's sexuality supposedly relating to her son's) but arguments I've seen have so often been tenuous and circular that it's kind of hard to buy. And it's indeed not the only issue triggered by that change in the screenplay....
I always figure that in Paul, Louis lost someone who might have become a fellow traveller or a genuine inspiration, and if you lose someone with a particular role in your life, you can be driven to seek it in, as they say, all the wrong places...
It's really interesting that for in Dracula we have England held up as the paradigm of progress compared to Eastern Europe and IWTV throws in the chaos of post-Louisiana purchase, Newly American vampires to the mix. I find it all deeply interesting.
To me Stoker's Irish origins also add a very interesting wrinkle there...
here's a nice irish icon
I don't think she's homophobic really, though.
Agreed on Paul - my concern at his replacement in the film was because I loved the theme of the sibling. I don't know if it's because I come from a big, close-knit family, so can empathise with how it would feel to 'betray' a sibling in in that way, or what. I just love Paul.
With regard to the Irish question - dudette, exactly! Dear God, there is so much theory and discussion we could get from Stoker's nationality alone. This is why you must be there in April to thrash this discussion out with me in the re-read. I could go on for hours. :D
Re: here's a nice irish icon
- do we view bisexuality as a strength of the books only in theory, and quail at it in practice when they fall for members of the opposite sex (and if so, does biphobia enter into it?), or is it just that the members of the opposite sex they fall for are uniformly awful?
- how does the problem of how well the female characters are written play into it? As you said, I've argued that characters like Dora and Gretchen are just redemptive tools for Lestat (and Rowan becomes one in BC), but I see people lumping Gabrielle/Pandora/Bianca into the 'Rice can't write female characters' argument, and that bothers me because these characters subvert notions of woman-as-adjunct-to-man's-development. I have this nagging feeling that the fandom in general has a bias against the female characters, and that colours my reading of arguments based on the female characters as a group being poorly written.
- That said, bias on our part doesn't preclude bias on hers.
Argh.
Siblings - conversely, I'm fascinated because I have none, so I wonder about stuff like 'Is equality possible between siblings?'
Irish question - let me email you something on that...
Re: here's a nice irish icon
With regard to bisexuality, I think the problem is that each character's story arc in the VC was resolved with the same trope - saved by the one-dimensional Madonna: Louis/Merrick, Lestat/Rowan, Armand/Sybelle, etc. I won't include Mona as I haven't read BC and because I know that she's not supposed to be so weak as the others. What depressingly silly endings, with no substance at all. Merrick gets offed and there's about two seconds of grief and not one word of how it will affect Louis that the third ~Love of his Life~ is dead.
Sybelle is the most ridiculous character in the entire VC to me. She's just going to play that song for all eternity? It sounds mystical and profound but falls apart if you think about it for a couple of minutes.
Can you imagine Lestat settling down happily ever after with anyone? Even during his greatest infatuation with Louis, he still had to play the field a little. It's such an undeserved ending for the classic characters.
It reminds me of that exchange in Fight Club:
'Dad, what do I do now?'
'I dunno. Get married?'
Finally, I think the VC ladies are more interesting without the men. I loved
On the siblings thing: No, I don't believe there is equality in siblings. And again, I like the way siblings are presented in IWTV and TVL. Louis is the protector of his family, Paul the beloved one, his sister unnamed because she's a woman. Louis only comes to appreciate her as a real person with thoughts once he's a vampire. Why?
And Lestat's brothers-- well.
Yes! Send that e-mail!
Re: here's a nice irish icon
"Saved by the one-dimensional Madonna" - YES, that's it exactly! I was really ticked off by Dora being so SILLY at the end of Memnoch; Lestat literally goes to Hell and back and she's all, 'YOINK! GOT YOUR VEIL!' and off to renew the Christian cliches of culty object veneration, as if nothing she'd just heard mattered at all.
Merrick might have been a truly dangerous, Armandian manipulator of the hero's desires (both David and Louis), but there's a sentimentality intruding by that point (Benji and Sybelle - I agree with your comments on her - are part of the same problem) that insists on everyone being safely gathered into the Coven. There are no villains; there's certainty where there used to be moral and cosmological ambiguity. I realise I'm veering way off 'wimmin' but it just occurred to me how much more ambitiously Merrick would've been portrayed earlier in the series...
I think you're onto something about the women being more interesting without the men. Or in situations where the women are obviously in charge; I love the Maharet/Jesse relationship. Men flock to Maharet but it's clear that she can find her own balance without them, and Jesse has a similarly independent spirit...
women
Regarding the 'women as a support for men', I completely agree. From what I gathered, AR herself took a lot of philosophy (especially atheistic French philosophy from the 50s) from her husband, despite it clashing with her catholic education. I find it very telling that Lestat was originally inspired by Stan and then, gradually through the books, AR starts identifying with him and rejecting her first alter ego Louis. I find it really scary because it seems to imply that, for AR, developping as an individual means becoming a clone of her husband!
My own theory is that it explains a lot why she went so nuts after Stan died, and reverted so much to religion. I think she is the kind of woman who follows her man all her adult life, and she got completely lost when she lost this model, and reverted 'by default' to her childhood catholic morals. But that's just my crazy theory!
Re: women
Side by side, they start to look like variations on one character trope, specially since their books both end with the same dramatic irony: a faithful but questioning woman who has befriended Lestat, and travelled the same road a while, makes an abrupt volte-face when he shows them something truly revelatory. They both seem to hide from the implications of what they're seeing and transform it into something ultimately more mundane: another miracle for people to gawp at.
Re: AR and religion, she went back to it long before Stan's death; I believe she's said 1998 in various interviews. The general tenor and ending of The Vampire Armand, published that year, seem to reflect that kind of change in her - Marius backs off from his earlier view that human society is constantly building on itself positively, Armand's visions and faith are treated as being of central importance, and it seems like the seeds of Blood Canticle are already sown...
Re: women
I admit I really liked Gretchen with mortal Lestat :) I even found she was a good match for Lestat, not as a steady love (lol!) but as a group-therapy-fuck-buddy, because her attitude is very much like his own even though her chosen philosophy is different. Basically, she tells him 'I don't believe in God but I really believe in what I do in the jungle, therefore God or no God becomes an irrelevant issue'. She finds her values strictly within herself, not pre-established outside/above, just like Lestat does, except he believes in aesthetics/transformation/whatevs. It takes a lot a guts to find one's values within oneself, and Gretchen does it, she's a tough girl. That's why I find it completely OOC for Gretchen to go crazy after seeing Lestat as a vamp. That she tells him to piss off because he abused her confidence, OK. That she can't cope with the supernatural, fair enough because she is not a mystic, she's a very down to earth person, but I don't see her getting crazy over it. She's the type of person that would take the conscious decision to push it out of her mind so that she can continue functionning and doing her work, which is her reason for living.
When she goes crazy, I agree she turns into pre-Dora. But I still love the Gretchen from earlier in the book :) LOL! I'm publicly coming out as a Lestat/Gretchen shipper :) Should I start carrying self defense weapons ? :D
Yes, I get you about AR coming back to religion before Stan's death. She even made him have a ceremony in Church or something, I remember. But I'm still sickly fascinated by the whole idea of someone gradually identifying with a character that was inspired by their husband. I find the whole thing a bit scary.
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'I love you, but I can't be what you want.'
They're so angsty <3
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I loved TotBT when I read it. I accidentally read it before QotD because the paperback with the picture of Miami was too shiny to resist, and thought it was amazing. Lestat was such a bad ass! But then again, I was 12 at the time. But even at the age of 13 or 14 or whenever it was, I knew better than to like Memnoch.
Cloud Atlas sounds terrible. I've never heard of it but I will stick my tongue out at it if I ever come across it.