This and that
Jun. 2nd, 2010 10:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegeekI have just finished reading A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it.
I spent the first third of the book wondering if I should bother even finishing it because the presentation of the characters (especially the main one) and story bugged me to no end. The protagonist, Anna, is presented as being clearly perfect in each and every way, and she positively exudes Mary Sue out of her pores. The antagonist is unpleasant in each and every way (with the exception of her reportedly perfect looks and staggering bosom) and really impossible to appreciate. The cast of supporting characters is interesting (and I love Ollie, the token adorable!kid, as well as Petya, and if there were fanfic of them when they grow up I would totally ship them forever and ever) if at times cliched.
There are times in the storytelling where the purple prose positively dragged me out of the scene to roll my eyes a bit and I felt as though it was difficult to really immerse myself in the experience of the protagonist. The story did skip to different characters' points of view, but I don't think that's the only reason I didn't connect as fully as I usually do - I'm not entirely sure if it was perhaps done on purpose?
Also, since some of the darker/more distressing elements of the story (anti-semitism, eugenics, discrimination, etc) were only really touched upon by the almost laughably-unpleasant antagonists, it almost made me feel as though it were stealing the actual real threat and pain of the topics.
That being said, I wound up unable to stop reading. I did form some sort of connection with the heroine (though nowhere near as strongly as I typically do) and especially some of my favorite supporting characters. I did, definitely, want to discover how the ending would come about (the answer: almost precisely as I'd expected)
I knew exactly how the conflict within the story would be resolved in each and every case save one (or perhaps one and a half). If you don't like predictability then you'll likely not love this. If you think cliches exist for a reason - they continue to be popular and satisfying in their expectedness) then you've got the right book. The book did, of course, resolve satisfactorily if you, like me, love a happy ending. That the ending is extremely unlikely and oh-so-very convenient is besides the point because it is, after all, a romance of sorts (and to be fair, convenient plot devices and occurrences are not the purview of romances alone!).
Then again, I do love a story of love that prevails and pauper-to-princess and a plucky heroine with her band of even pluckier supporters. It has a bit of a fairytale feel to it, and I adore fairytales. I think I'll wind up keeping the book on my shelf and perhaps rereading it in the future to see how it fares a second-time through.
***
So yes, now to decide what's next. Perhaps this time it will actually be Mansfield Park?
***
Also, question for the fannish folk interested in sharing...
If you have a story/series of ficlets that, while not while not strictly related to each other (are intended to be read completely independently of each other) are linked by a common theme, do you prefer to read them as they are written or only once the collection is complete? So, I guess I'm asking: Read in installments or in one-go?
I spent the first third of the book wondering if I should bother even finishing it because the presentation of the characters (especially the main one) and story bugged me to no end. The protagonist, Anna, is presented as being clearly perfect in each and every way, and she positively exudes Mary Sue out of her pores. The antagonist is unpleasant in each and every way (with the exception of her reportedly perfect looks and staggering bosom) and really impossible to appreciate. The cast of supporting characters is interesting (and I love Ollie, the token adorable!kid, as well as Petya, and if there were fanfic of them when they grow up I would totally ship them forever and ever) if at times cliched.
There are times in the storytelling where the purple prose positively dragged me out of the scene to roll my eyes a bit and I felt as though it was difficult to really immerse myself in the experience of the protagonist. The story did skip to different characters' points of view, but I don't think that's the only reason I didn't connect as fully as I usually do - I'm not entirely sure if it was perhaps done on purpose?
Also, since some of the darker/more distressing elements of the story (anti-semitism, eugenics, discrimination, etc) were only really touched upon by the almost laughably-unpleasant antagonists, it almost made me feel as though it were stealing the actual real threat and pain of the topics.
That being said, I wound up unable to stop reading. I did form some sort of connection with the heroine (though nowhere near as strongly as I typically do) and especially some of my favorite supporting characters. I did, definitely, want to discover how the ending would come about (the answer: almost precisely as I'd expected)
I knew exactly how the conflict within the story would be resolved in each and every case save one (or perhaps one and a half). If you don't like predictability then you'll likely not love this. If you think cliches exist for a reason - they continue to be popular and satisfying in their expectedness) then you've got the right book. The book did, of course, resolve satisfactorily if you, like me, love a happy ending. That the ending is extremely unlikely and oh-so-very convenient is besides the point because it is, after all, a romance of sorts (and to be fair, convenient plot devices and occurrences are not the purview of romances alone!).
Then again, I do love a story of love that prevails and pauper-to-princess and a plucky heroine with her band of even pluckier supporters. It has a bit of a fairytale feel to it, and I adore fairytales. I think I'll wind up keeping the book on my shelf and perhaps rereading it in the future to see how it fares a second-time through.
***
So yes, now to decide what's next. Perhaps this time it will actually be Mansfield Park?
***
Also, question for the fannish folk interested in sharing...
If you have a story/series of ficlets that, while not while not strictly related to each other (are intended to be read completely independently of each other) are linked by a common theme, do you prefer to read them as they are written or only once the collection is complete? So, I guess I'm asking: Read in installments or in one-go?
