Laurie R. King Virtual Book Club discussion
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A Test of Wills
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A Test Of Wills by Charles Todd - VBC March 2013
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Vicki
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Mar 01, 2013 11:45AM
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I take it that you are listening through Audible? I couldn't find it in audio format anywhere else, and I just can't bring myself to justify Audible's high price when there is so much good stuff I can hear for free.
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I'm about 20% into A Test of Wills. So far, it has a really slow start, but I like Rutledge and like how Hamish fills in the niche of a partner. Definitely breaks the mold of your typical detective and partner mystery.
I'm curious about the mother and son writing duo. Have they spoken about their writing process at all? Do they take turn writing chapters, write together some way, or does one do a first draft and the other edits?
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You can say that again! Actually, I'm a little surprised that Rutledge doesn't come across as completely insane with the split personality thing going on. I suppose he hides it really well from the people he interacts with. And we, the readers, get to hear what Hamish is saying so Rutledge responding doesn't seem quite so weird. Still a little bit nutty, though.
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I just realized we kind of have an inadvertent theme of mental instability going on through the last three reads, and each is seriously distinct. You've got Camille in Sharp Objects with her self-destructive instability, you've got Erasmus becoming a fool as a coping mechanism, and now we've got Rutledge with his Harvey. I think this could be prime territory for a possible discussion point! Though I need to get further into our book this month before I can get to far with thoughts.
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I just realized we kind of have an inadvertent theme of mental instability going on through the last three reads, and each is seriously distinct. You've got Camille i..."
I haven't seen Harvey in years! Definitely one of my all time favorite movies. Thanks Erin, lol, now I will be picturing Hamish as a drunk version of Harvey, or worse...the creepy bunny from Donny Darko.
I was trying to think of books where the protagonist didn't have some type of tragic past or mental instability, and at first, I couldn't think of many, but I eventually came up with a few examples. Still, there seems to be an abundance of unstable or tragic protagonists. Do you get the same results?
A history of trauma seems to add an element of believability to a character, as an explanation for why they've broken the bonds of 'normalcy' to hunt down criminals or put themselves in danger.
Lately, I've been doing some research on PSTD for personal reasons. There are some disturbing videos of WWI 'shell-shock' cases posted on Youtube. They are terrible to watch, but Mavers and Rutledge's time in an asylum made me think of them, and it sheds more light on what the survivors of the war were trying to cope with.
Have just finished the book, and am still digesting it. I think Todd got the local's antipathy to both Catherine and Hickam right. I do dislike books that portray the past with our current sensibilities.
I have to wonder at Bowles' malice-I assume it is further revealed as the series progresses?
Finally (for now): I find it amusing that in all this genre the Scotland Yard 'tecs only have the 1 current case to worry about. Guess crime was less common or staffing was better in those days...
I was wondering about Bowles' malice, too. We have no idea why he hates Rutledge so much.I really liked this book. I tore through it last night. Not sure I bought the whole Maggie/Helena transformation, but I didn't find it totally incredible.
Why did most people in the village assume that Rutledge had not been in the war? I was under the impression that most able-bodied men of his age were.
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I can think of a quite a few. I think it factors into that dividing line between amateur detectives and the seasoned professionals. The amateurs often seem to be a lot more stable than the professionals, at least at the start of their series. And there's always that common thread with the professionals about becoming jaded by all the work they're doing; and I wonder if "jaded" isn't accompanied by some kind of psychological break in some cases. But that's not really fair either, as I'm sure I could come up with a good number of unstable amateurs in modern fiction too.
And then there's that break between cozies and serious crimes. Cozies seem to have a lot fewer unstable people in them. Except maybe the bad guy. Though I've always viewed this as meaning they generally have a more shallow character study (as opposed to shallow characters) in exchange for a fun plot. The characters who have something gnawing at them are more interesting to get to know; they seem overall more real, with a past that's affecting them and shaping their interpretations of and interactions with the present.
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I'm about halfway through the book now and I'm wondering the same thing, Lenore. It feels as if the author is trying to explain to the reader how the war affected people and how people responded to the end of it...except he's making the assumption that the reader knows nothing about the war or the national response, and because the main character is being used as that informational conduit to the reader it comes across as him not having any experience with the war.
I can't help but compare this approach to share how people felt the war and the approach in say Jacqueline Winspear's Birds of a Feather; where everyone Maisie talks to assumes she's been through something similar so their sharing of information comes across more as sharing of experiences instead of trying to explain one's emotions and reactions. That difference in tone is huge.
I thought it a little odd also that Rutledge almost never corrects anyone that he was in the war. Except for Dr. Warren when he belligerently says "and how would you know" and Rutledge lets his temper go and replies that he was there. I suppose it's because we don't get to meet that many townspeople, but it's a little weird that there are only four people who were in the war (the colonel, the captain, the sergeant and the shell-shocked dude).
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So true, Erin! And that pretty much goes for RL people too. The wisest and most interesting people I know have usually been through hell.
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I'm only 20% through and I was already wondering the same thing. Was hoping it would be addressed later on in book, but I'm guessing it wasn't by the responses.
I'm thinking about it and Rutledge seems to be very uncommunicative, almost afraid of what will come out of his mouth if he opens it. Perhaps because of that and because of the lack of any visible wound the assumption is made about his service?
The wisest and most interesting people I know have usually been through hell. It depends on the person, though. Some people allow the pain to deepen their character and some become embittered, or angry, or terribly whiny instead.
I have no kindle at the moment so I can't download it (Charlie jumped on it). But I'm getting quite intrigued. I've just been diagnosed with PTSD - apparently I was in survival mode for the last two years, not coping brilliantly as I thought - so I'm interested to read about it in a fictional form. I'm definitely not feeling strong enough to watch those videos on YouTube though!
Millie - after your past two years it's no wonder you are experiencing PTSD. And you have coped and are coping brilliantly - PTSD is not to negate the way you have held yourself and your family together through all of your various traumas. If you have a smartphone, you can use the kindle app on it. I do that quite often while waiting for one of my kids somewhere.
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It depends on the person, though. Some people allow the pain to deepen their character and some become embittered, or ..."
Very true, Karen!
Think of it as you would an other illness-Millie you are controlling the symptoms. Doesn't mean you don't have it-just that you are managing it-and doing a brilliant job. I envy your strength.In Rutledge's time, it was felt to be "shameful" to have normal, human reactions to horror. As if sending millions of young , vulnerable boys to do terrible things was merely like a football match-or more likely Society couldn't face it's role in the mess. I'm thinking of the young women who shoved white feathers at all those not in uniform. No wonder they all came home and drank. My father remembers HIS father driving several uncles up to the VA Hospital periodically to get "dried out'. And they never, ever mentioned the war. I have several patients, in their 80's who are only now able to talk about WWII and Korea. One, I'm glad to say, who finally stopped drinking and got help-not for himself but so "the rest of the guys" left from his unit would too.
Wasn't there a bit in "The Little Prince" about a drinker who drank to forget, and told the Prince he couldn't remember what he needed to forget? Or something like that-I read it in French class 40 years ago, in French. But the author was a pilot in WWI.
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I've just been diagnosed with PTSD - apparently I was in survival mode for the last ..."
Millie, I stumbled across this quote by Michal Templet the other day:
“Always remember, if you have been diagnosed with PTSD, it is not a sign of weakness; rather, it is proof of your strength, because you have survived!”
Hang in there and don't try to cope with it alone.
Thank you :). I'm getting help and slowly but surely getting better. I do love that quote Sabrina!Karen, brilliant idea! Downloading app and book now :)
Last night I made the mistake of thinking I could listen to just a little more of A Test of Wills, in bed before sleep. It wound tighter and tighter and didn't finish until 1:15 am. I had read it a long time ago and remembered that it was sad, but not how bizarre was the ending. Rutledge is a great character. I was happy to read a later story in the series which was also well written but not so painful to be drawn into.
Millie, you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. You so wonderfully held everything together for so long, now it's time for you to heal.I'm dealing with some health problems so haven't been keeping up with VBC. Here are some assorted thoughts on A Test of Wills:
I hate Bowles' malice in the series. (He's eliminated in the last couple of books.) Mean, small-minded jealousy is the only explanation I remember. I also dislike the hostility and treachery of the administrators in Louise Penny's books. In both series I think this factor is just an unpleasant distraction.
I've read all the books in the series and like the last two the best. I think Hamish's presence gets less tense as the series goes on, but not much actual time passes. To review this book I got a paperback from the library, and in the ads at the back discovered that the first nine books cover just nine months. If the next six are a case a month, that's a short period for recovering from PTSD as severe as Ian's. I had a close relationship with a man who had been a fighter pilot in WWII. Eight years after the war he still had trance-like episodes when combat came back and he could just write "slap me!" to be brought out of it.
The Todd's Bess Crawford series is my favorite.
I wondered if the loathsome Bowles seemed necessary to explain why Rutledge was consistently sent out on the difficult cases which might ruin a detective's career. I agree, his malice doesn't make the story better.
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Do they ever explain why Bowles has it in for Rutledge, though? I feel like that's the hardest part to wrap my head around. Why does Bowles hate him so much that he treats him like this? I know some people are just like that, but they still usually have a reason, even if its all in their own head.
I've taken A Test of Wills back to the library, but when Bowles first thinks of Rutledge he lets out a string of bitter observations to the effect that before the war Rutledge had been the Yard's fair-haired boy with a good education, upper class birth, and successes Bowles attributed to Rutledge's relatively privileged birth and background.
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