Marc’s Comments (group member since Feb 28, 2016)

Marc’s comments from the The Passage trilogy readalong group.

Chapters 1-5: http://www.gollancz.co.uk/2016/03/the...

Chapters 6-10: http://www.gollancz.co.uk/2016/04/the...

Chapters 11-15: http://www.gollancz.co.uk/2016/04/the...

Should have been up to Chapter 16 this week, but I held back a chapter as I think it will work better for the next readalong as the themes match up better :)

We're all on schedule (I think?)

Official Discussions are going on in the 'Official Discussions' folder.

The catch up posts are here:

Chapters 1-5: http://www.gollancz.co.uk/2016/03/the...

Chapters 6-10: http://www.gollancz.co.uk/2016/04/the...

Chapters 11-15: http://www.gollancz.co.uk/2016/04/the...

(OK, last one should have been to 16, but I thought that it worked better doing 5 chapters at a time until we reach 21-26).

How did you all feel about the last few chapters of Wolgast's life with Amy in the lodge?

I'm a little torn on the meaning.

Towards the end, Wolgast seems to be looking for something else... something other than the lodge. He begins thinking about taking Amy somewhere else. Usually this is for safety considerations, but there are times he seems to wonder what he should/could be doing beyond the lodge. This was strange to me because it initially seemed like this was all he wanted from life - to retire with someone to look after.

I wonder if Wolgast's death is meant to remind us of what Carter said, that Rachel chose 'the right time'. I wonder if Wolgast's death was at 'the right time'. His purpose was to save Amy and he fulfilled that (in addition to getting the chance to be a father) and so his death would, I suppose, meet Carter's thoughts on not hanging around longer than need be?

Time...

Do you have any thoughts about 'time' being one of the book's central themes? In the last 5-10 chapters the idea of time as journey (or a Passage?) has been really pressed onto the reader.

There seems to be a couple of ideas about time:

One is that it is always moving and pushing you down a path. The wrong path can lead to another wrong path and before you know it you are somewhere you never wanted to be.

The other, however, is that whether you end up, you can change it (or someone else can) within seconds. We see Wolgast go from being a fed to a prisoner to a stay at home dad within a few chapters.

Any other examples / thoughts? :)

Manda wrote: "My first re read, I have the audiobook versions and the third on pre order.

I made the mistake of not re reading the passage in anticipation of the twelve and feeling lost at times in the twelve...."

Good decision and welcome aboard! :D

Sheri wrote: "I like Carter's POV. He is so heartbreakingly broken, and how much of it is really his fault? He's a good guy, a victim of circumstance and birth, who just wanted to be acknowledged as a person."

Yes. I mean, he killed someone, but did he? I think it was really well done by the author. He took our preconceptions of a death-row inmate and punished us for having them. We are made to feel more and more guilty as the truth about what happened is unveiled.

I'm with you two. I think that Doyle had always been a character the author wanted us to feel unsure about. Why did he take the job? What were his motivations? We know he signed up after a terrorist attack, but he seems cocky and wanted to be a lawyer... so there must be some kind of catch, right?

When it came down to it though, Doyle gave his life up not necessarily to save Wolgast and Amy, but just to give them a few extra seconds and increase their chances. It's the ultimate sacrifice and how can we not love him for it?

At this point (Chapter 16), we've lost just about every viewpoint character bar 2 (maybe 3?). They've been shot, blown up, eaten, ripped apart, and so on.

Is there a death that stands out to you? If so, why? Some of the deaths seem to be there to showcase the power of the 'Vampires' but others seem to be there to show other things....

Lets hear your thoughts! :)

Marc wrote: "Ah… What a week! If this is your first time reading The Passage, then I hope you are enjoying the ride. I think these early chapters may have surprised you a little, right? What you have probably n..."

My absolute pleasure! :)

I was interested to see a couple of people mentioned Grey as their favourite POV. Grey lacks a certain piece of him (due to the drugs) and so definitely intrigued me. What has been your thoughts about him? Has it been unsettling spending time within the mind of a sex offender? Do you feel Grey really wanted to leave that life behind or was it just the drugs?

Ha, it's very interesting isn't it, Glenna?

Right now you certainly get the feeling of it being a Suspense/Thriller. There is nothing, massively, Horror or Science-Fiction feeling about it - the disease is 'made up', but the author hasn't asked us to accept anything too far-fetched. The disease has a logical explanation and enough science that it seems plausible. I think that Justin Cronin taking the time to present realistic characters from realistic backgrounds has also helped take it away from the various other genres. This story is more about them than it is about the 'monster' (right now), which is different to most Horror Novels, where the main purpose for reading is finding out 'what it is' or 'how do they kill it'.

Based on the first two weeks reading then, how would you describe the book in terms of genre? Lets say you were working in Waterstones or Barnes & Noble and your boss has asked you to find it a shelf. Where would you put it at this point? :)

I was going to say Richards too, Jess. Might be because he is such a mystery though - we've seen so little of him.

I really liked Carter and Wolgast's chapters as a duo. They kind of played off each other to reveal the story of Carter and whether or not he deserved to be sentenced to death.

So, we are approaching the middle of week 2 in our readalong and I was wondering which your favourite Point Of View* has been so far?

We've had some really great ones: Jeanette, Lear (via e-mail), Lacey, Wolgast, Carter, Grey, Richards. It's certainly a hard choice :-)

*Note: Your favourite POV doesn't have to be the same as your favourite character!

Ah… What a week! If this is your first time reading The Passage, then I hope you are enjoying the ride. I think these early chapters may have surprised you a little, right? What you have probably noticed is that this is a book as much about characters and humanity as it is about vampires and the end of the world.

One thing I’ve noticed doing this readalong though, is just how economical Justin Cronin is with his words. Almost every sentence has a purpose – whether explaining backstory, creating tension, driving the story forwards or foreshadowing. It’s really impressive and is the reason why despite being almost 1000 pages long, you never feel the urge to hurry the author along.

Anyway, there’s plenty of time for that in a moment! What I’m going to do during this readalong is recap each chapter and then dive into a little bit of commentary on that recapped chapter. Some may want to read both bits, some may want to read just the commentary and others may just want to read only the recaps. It’s totally up to you.

Finally, thank you to each of our Goodreads Members who have been involved in our discussions. I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every message left there – I really feel chatting about the books is enhancing the experience. Hopefully we can keep the chatter going.

Here's the post: http://www.gollancz.co.uk/2016/03/the...

Tori wrote: "Hello all! I'm reading the book for the first time -- many thanks to Penguin Canada for holding a giveaway! -- and looking forward to reading all of your insights as we go!"

Very cool :) Congrats on the win ;)

Samantha wrote: "I picked this book up in a second hand shop 2 weeks ago and I am glad I did! It has sat on the floor at the side of my sofa since then. The length was putting me off I found it pretty intimidating ..."

Hurrah! Catch us if you can :D

Erm... so, I've just sent the week one summary post off to Gollancz & Orion and realised it is 8000 words O:)

In fairness, I've done a small commentary with reflections on each chapter and comments from group members and a really detailed recap of each chapter too. Most of you guys will probably skim/miss the recap parts and jump to the commentary - perhaps coming back to the recap if you need to remind yourself of things as the weeks go on. I also thought it would be good for people not reading along, but wanting to remind themselves of what happened. So yes, something for everyone!

As to why it is so long... I guess, because it is the first section of the book, there is a lot of exposition, character building and worldbuilding - so future editions won't be quite so many words... in theory!

I shall post a link up here as soon as it goes live :D

He's probably the most interesting B.V. character for me. He is a man who has found himself doing terrible things, but who knows morally that he needs to stop. However, the point of his existence, Lila, has gone from his life and although he dreams of other things, this job gives him a purpose and stops him having to face reality (and his grief).

The chapter where he takes Amy to the fair is well done I feel. He gets to experience what he didn't get to experience with his own daughter and that emptiness he has been talking about throughout his chapters is filled by her presence.

I think that you are 100% right about Wolgast pouring his own feelings into this relationship, Beth :)

Based on the 'Before Virus' chapters then, what do we think of Brad Wolgast?