Pamela's comments (member since Aug 20, 2008)

Pamela's comments from the Endicott Mythic Fiction group.

Elyssa wrote: "These young girls, even the previous ones, I would not want to have a bunch of school girls handling that kind of magic. A bit scary, like giving Potter a wand."

Lol. Yes, I worry for the fate of the world. ;D

Elyssa wrote: Pam I missed your boarding school comment. Glad to see someone thinks the same way."

I was amazed. The constant references to the Headmistress' single glass of sherry (how would the girls even know, if done in the privacy of her chambers at bedtime?) as the reason the girls could go anywhere at night just didn't strike me as sufficient. I also felt the girls didn't pay a high enough price in exhaustion for all their midnight rambles.

Even so, I don't want to suggest that I disliked the book. There were many fun aspects to the story. I also suspect it works better for someone in the target audience than it did for me.

I wanted to like this book; it had many elements I enjoy. Unfortunately, I found it a bit too thin--not in the number of pages, but in the story told. The story dragged for me, with too many quiet scenes in which I was waiting for the foreshadowed darkness to appear, only to be disappointed with how quickly and easily (this despite the tragedy) the darkness passed, when it finally did show up.

I found the girls too modern in their thinking and was amazed at how easily they got around the (often nonexistent) restrictions of the boarding school. A glass of sherry doesn't go far enough to explain the ease with which the girls were able to wander the grounds at night. Gemma was also a problem for me, as I never quite warmed to her; she was too shallow, too quick to do what she wanted and, despite moments of feeling sorry about her misbehavior, unable or unwilling to learn from her mistakes.

I was finally able to pick up my copy and get started on this. So far, I'm enjoying it, although I'm surprised by the number of times Gemma refers to her legs, since I thought the Victorians generally considered such specificity was scandalous. Is this intended to be an artifact of Gemma's more casual Indian background? Overall, though, I like the story and feel it flows well.

I finally received notice from the library that my IIL is in. I'll be picking the book up sometime this weekend. Maybe I'll even get to start reading before the month is out. :/

I've got this on hold at the library. Unless it gets turned in early, the earliest I can hope for is next week. It sure seems to be popular; it's rare I find a book that has every single copy checked out (except for the volume being repaired).

Although I own a copy, it's packed away and I had to order this through interlibrary loan. It was interesting to see that it arrived from the Eastern NM University Library Special Collections.

I've been reading through, as I didn't have a clear memory of my first reading. So far, the story by Patricia McKillip has been my favorite.

Hi Terrea, sorry to have missed replying to you. I agree with your assessment of the resolution of the story.

Thanks, Michelle. I think you've put your finger right on the real quibble I had with Changeling's role in the book, which seemed to be to solve the problems Neef faces. Had she been given a different role, had we been given a glimpse into her viewpoint, or had she and Neef been able to form a stronger bond of friendship (which I had hoped for, given their similar positions as changelings in each others' worlds), I might have felt very differently.

Hi Michelle. I understand your perspective. For much of the book, I thought about whether the depiction of Changeling might help other children to understand their condition. Ultimately, I rejected that conclusion. My concern is that characterizing someone with Asperger's Syndrome or any other developmental disability in this way could reinforce the impulse to stigmatize them, because it labels them as "not human."

I enjoyed this book a lot, although I felt it dragged a bit at the end, possibly because I was able to anticipate the way in which things were wrapped up. Still, the unusual setting and the use of characters, themes, and actors associated with Comedia del'Arte really made this special.

I had to order my copy through Interlibrary Loan. It came in yesterday and I finished it this evening. I enjoyed many aspects of the story, but am very ambivalent about the depiction of Changeling, as she is clearly displaying fairly classic signs of someone with Asperger's Syndrome or High-Functioning Autism. Had she been the viewpoint character, maybe this would have worked better for me, but to see someone displaying the signs of a very real condition that affects very human individuals depicted as an unreal Fairy construct leaves me feeling very conflicted.

Hi - very belated response.

Terrea and I had no prior communications and didn't conspire, but it's always great to find another changeling lover out there. :)

I enjoyed this book very much. This was also my first book by Mieville and it was a pleasure to read.

Baobhan wrote: "I had the same experience when I read it, Pamela. I took small, beautiful bites of it until suddenly everything just clicked. From that point on, I couldn't put it down. I devoured."

I wish I'd had the choice to devour, but I just started a new job and I'm working a split shift, with four ten-hour days. On those days, I'm forced to keep every activity that wasn't an absolute necessity to the barest minimum.

I just finished this book and I loved it! I started out enjoying the stories, but not as fully engaged as I might have been (which might have been as much because my schedule only allowed me to read a tiny bit at a time), but then I hit a point at which everything clicked into place and it became incredibly hard to set the book aside, even when I had no choice. A wonderful, rich experience and one I recommend highly. I'll definitely be seeking out the sequel.

The first story was a lot of fun. :)

I just got the notice that The Orphan's Tales, which I'd reserved at the library, is waiting for me. :)

Thank you, Chris. I very much appreciate this insight into the characters and into your writing process. As a writer (mostly short stories, at the moment), I'm always interested in peeking behind the curtain. :-)

Hi Chris,

I found your story compelling and very unsettling. Adam's search for understanding and acceptance in a painful and alienating world struck me as very real, although I hope that most young people don't have to face ghosts quite so directly. I didn't always understand Adam's motivations, but that seemed somewhat true to Adam's character, as he himself didn't understand why he acted as he did. I also found Jamie alternately sympathetic and frightening; I wasn't sure, until Jamie left, that he wasn't going to give in completely to the vampiric impulse.

My understanding of Gracie's character was of someone who was facing very similar challenges to those Adam faced--a dysfunctional family, the shock and fear of Jamie's death, a relationship with Jamie's ghost--but was handling these by turning toward life; she had already made the decision that Adam eventually had to make, so she acted as a guide for him, or a role model, of how to be strong in the face of tragedy.

In many ways, the characters whose actions seemed the most confusing and contradictory, were those of the adults in Adam's life, his mother and her relationship with the woman who paralyzed her, in particular, but also his father's strange passivity with regard to his wife's choices.

Perhaps you could expand a bit on these secondary characters. Did you discover who they were through their interactions with Adam, or were they completely distinct characters whose actions you had to deal with, much as you dealt with Adam's?