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The Twelve: Part III: The Field.
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just started this on the plane to florida and had an AHA moment when we learn that alicia is the daughter of april and what's his name (geeze, i am so bad). love when things fall into place like that.
Sherry wrote: "just started this on the plane to florida and had an AHA moment when we learn that alicia is the daughter of lila and what's his name (geeze, i am so bad). love when things fall into place like that."or is she?
i am so confused ..lol
in the back of the book there is a chart with all the new people by location which is very helpful. i wish that cronin had included a similar chart for the other characters from the passage, other than the twelve. i am having a hard time remembering who is who!
It gets easier ther further into the book you get. Once characters are mentioned several times, it seems to imprint.
Daniel wrote: "It gets easier ther further into the book you get. Once characters are mentioned several times, it seems to imprint."probably true, dan.. i think what i want is to remember what they did/ who they were in the passage and i haven't held on to that.
I'm thinking the same thing. maybe too far between books but that never messed me up in the past. I'm up to V and at times it's not getting any easier. I just checked out the section in the back but can that spoiler things looking at it now. I was finally into the other section and they changed the people on me or added new ones. I'm writting down names. at times I'm reading the library book since it seems easier and faster but tried to renew it today (due tomorrow) and can't since someone is waiting for it. weird since there was so many copies when I got this one out around. so I kept it out until tomorrow. now to decide do I want to keep it a day more after that or return it since I do have the copy on the nook.
Sherry I didn't thing that alicia is lila's daughter. but you never know.
More children in this next group. where do they disappear and is the women Amy. it keeps bringing up different questions.
Sherry:I didn't realize there was a list of characters at the end of the book, good to know. I am not sure what led you to think that Alicia was Lila's daughter, but I haven't seen any indication of that (though I am only up to chapter 27 in part IV The Cave)
DonnaJo: Good questions! ... especially about what happened to the children in chapter 23 and about the mystery woman who appeared. I am starting to have some ideas about that identity, but not sure yet so won't mention it in this thread as it came from part IV's reading.
I am going to post my notes on this part for further details about what took place in this part IV called The Field.
Chapter 23 is a mix of the personal type of story Cronin weaves so well to immerse you into one of his slices of life and with tidbits of back story to fill in the puzzle pieces of what life is like after the Virals have taken over. The story starts by learning about what it is like in a year 79 AV day of work in the field growing corn under strict rules to stay safe from Virals. It reveals what can happen when they allow themselves to dream of normalcy and when trying to keep children innocent and unaware of the dangers as long as they can can backfire.
The buildup lets us know something (bad) will happen, but what seems even more amazing in some ways is that life is so devoid of technology and knowledge they are unaware of an eclipse before it is happening right on top of them releasing the Virals in the darkness - Virals that have become so smart they hide in the safe places where it appears they know the people will run and that the Virals (or something) seem to be able to drive a truck or bus.
When kids like Curtis Vorhees and Boz go down inside a dam looking for the Expeditioners and the mythical Niles Coffee; and Texas children wander off in the shade of the corn to play because just saying "don't go in the corn" and "stay inside the walls" isn't enough of a deterrent when you are a child; we see how vulnerable kids are and start to understand just a little why the kids in the first book in the walled town of California are kept in an almost prison like environment away from their parents and unable to dream of this sort of outing for the first, was it eight? years of their lives.
Questions from chapter 23. Who is the mysterious woman, is it Amy? Somehow I don't think so, but who else could it be. Was there a truck or a bus there to pick up the children as they all seem to disappear and are not attacked by the Virals, but spirited away - where are they being taken?
Will we meet up with these adults again?
Donnajo wrote: "I'm thinking the same thing. maybe too far between books but that never messed me up in the past. I'm up to V and at times it's not getting any easier. I just checked out the section in the bac..."i don't think she's lila's daughter - i think she's april's daughter- i wrote that down wrong. i'll edit it to fix it.
Ann wrote: "Sherry:I didn't realize there was a list of characters at the end of the book, good to know. I am not sure what led you to think that Alicia was Lila's daughter, but I haven't seen any indication ..."
i made an oops!- just edited my post to fix it.
Sherry wrote: probably true, dan.. i think what i want is to remember what they did/ who they were in the passage and i haven't held on to that. "
I've been thinking the same thing, Sherry, although it's not just the characters from The Passage I don't remember, it's characters mentioned earlier in The Twelve! I wish I had thought to keep a log but I'm almost finished now (coming back to start posting the relevant parts) so it's too late. But I am going to skim through each part before I post which will not only help keep me within the boundaries of the chapters but also refresh my memory.
Ann wrote: "The buildup lets us know something (bad) will happen, but what seems even more amazing in some ways is that life is so devoid of technology and knowledge they are unaware of an eclipse before it is happening right on top of them releasing the Virals in the darkness - Virals that have become so smart they hide in the safe places where it appears they know the people will run and that the Virals (or something) seem to be able to drive a truck or bus. .."I found myself struggling with what a hardbox was, how big it was, and what purpose it served. Was it simply a fortified house meant to protect folks from the virals? When they started mentioning them I thought of them has large mailboxes that were meant to call for help, but of course that wouldn't help when a viral is bearing down on you. The I thought maybe it had an electrical charge or something that would help kill virals.
This was a sad, sad chapter. First with the death of Vorhees' brother, then the affair between Dee and Tifty, then the attack of the virals and the loss of the children. Is this another episode that will just get left, like the one with April and Kitteridge, or will it connect later?
And I agree, who is this woman who came out of the fields with the virals, and seems interested in the children?
Good questions, Carol - I wondered the same, I wondered was this just to show us an alternative way to "deal with" the virals instead of the way they did in California? Carol/Bonadie wrote: "This was a sad, sad chapter. First with the death of Vorhees' brother, then the affair between Dee and Tifty, then the attack of the virals and the loss of the children. Is this another episode that will just get left, like the one with April and Kitteridge, or will it connect later? "
I was wondering the same thing with the hardbox.
Carol and DJ: I think even while reading "The Field" segment I pictured the hard boxes as some sort of metal shed. Not terribly big, but no windows and only a single door, but that was my own invention, not something described by Cronin and I admit to curiosity now too. I suppose a fortified house is exactly what purpose they served...we knew a bit more in the upcoming sections... Carol/Bonadie wrote: " Was it simply a fortified house meant to protect folks from the virals?"
Donnajo wrote: "I was wondering the same thing with the hardbox."
DJ- that would have been safer! Out in a field that would make sense. Donnajo wrote: "I was thinking a storm cellar"
I was thinking of the hardboxes as shelters, pillboxes almost for those caught out of the settlement in times of danger.I had been looking forward to Kerrville, but our introduction to the settlement was sad indeed.
I have no particular insight to the mysterious vehicle or mysterious woman. I assume we will find out later.
Barry wrote: "I was thinking of the hardboxes as shelters, pillboxes almost for those caught out of the settlement in times of danger.I had been looking forward to Kerrville, but our introduction to the settlem..."
that was how i imagined the hardboxes, too.
Barry wrote: "I was thinking of the hardboxes as shelters, pillboxes almost for those caught out of the settlement in times of danger.I had been looking forward to Kerrville, but our introduction to the settlem..."
I agree with you, Barry. So sad to imagine the shock of the settlers when they realized the virals were hiding in there, waiting for them...
Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends
Books mentioned in this topic
The Twelve (other topics)The Passage (other topics)
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