Today and Tomorrow

[sienamystic]

Today I finished a reread of Pamela Dean's Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary and watched the first two eps of Wonderfalls, and also did eight loads of laundry. Yowza.

Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary is an interesting book for me. I like it very much in some ways (every character in it, just about, is a fully-realized person), but there are parts of it that just don't shake out right and I don't know if it's a flaw in the novel or in how I'm choosing to read it. The book came out almost exactly ten years ago, and I actually went back over to rec.arts.sf.written and read a bunch of old threads discussing the book - there was a lot of good stuff being written about it but I wish I could grab some of these people and get them to restart a new discussion now that they've likely reread the book. If I get around to it, I may go back over there and start one, or if anybody feels like having the discussion here, I'd be happy to kick it off. Although really, I don't think I have anything new and intelligent to say about it - a lot of the stuff that bugged me still does. I just want to listen to *other* people being smart about it!

And as for Wonderfalls, all I can say is that I'm in love. What a dear little show. I've been told it ended abruptly, which is sad. It also makes me growl about the length of time they're waiting to air the last three eps. of Pushing Daisies.

Tomorrow, a longer MRI (actually, it's two of them. No doubt double the price, although they do it all at once) of my lower spine. So it's the tube again for me. Sigh.

Comments

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

Actually, the nice thing with Wonderfalls is that it has a season-long arc which is wrapped up the last episode, so it is a complete story, like a miniseries. You won't be left dangling. Actually, when it originally aired, only 3 or 4 episodes actually made it to air, leaving around 9 "never-before-seen" episodes for the DVD set.

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

Oh, excellent. I'm glad it comes complete, so to speak.

[nigita.livejournal.com]

Hey! I did 8 loads of laundry today, too. Who the heck wears all these clothes? It can't be me--I never have anything to wear.

Good luck with the MRI. I hope they give you a two-fer on the price. Have you tried talking them down on the price for these things? The insurance companies negotiate their own breaks. I have a friend who negotiated lower terms with a hospital that he was paying himself. He had to be very persistent, but eventually they compromised with him on the price.

*Sends fleur de sel caramels*

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

Hrm, I'm going through my insurance, so I'm not sure if that all applies, but I'll keep it in mind.

Ooh, caramels.

[siliconivy.livejournal.com]

i loved Wonderfalls for the few short weeks it aired on TV, & the DVD is great.

It's been quite a while since I read Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary but I had a similar reaction. I forget at what point in the book that I finally realized that it was a sequel of sorts to Tam Lin. Now there's a book that I had very opposite reactions to: on one hand, I loved it. On the other hand, I felt that parts of it were beyond me because I didn't get a lot of the classical references. I had a more muted but similar reaction to JGR.

not sure if you know, but she's on LJ, pameladean

SPOILERS for JGR (er, a trifle ranty, perhaps)

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

Tam Lin is a book pretty close to my heart, and one which I reread fairly regularly (and always seem to find new things in it). For me, after the second reading everything fell into place, and I could see how she'd cleverly seeded the story with clues and hints and foreshadowing about what was really going on.

With JGR, I can see a similar thing happening, and it's all worth it for the last page, but the conversation Gentian has with her parents just boggles me. Her father, the failed magician, and her mother, who has just been let on this secret, don't seem to really have made any attempt to intervene in Dominic's hold over Gentian. The other girls got out after about a month, but Gentian lingered in his hold the better part of a year! And yet, when they talk about it in the kitchen after Gentian frees herself, the parents are obviously happy and relieved but the whole thing is so underplayed that I don't get it. If the moral of the story is something about "everybody ends up having to save their own soul," then I don't get the earlier situation mentioned, where Juniper is acting very strangely and the parents take turns checking on her and making sure it's not anything life-threatening. And yet, they don't seem to have any concern about even attempting to keep a (the) devil/demon out of the house? Away from their three daughters?

It just...failed to work for me, despite rereadings.

Yeah, I have Pamela Dean's LJ friended. I remember first seeing her on Usenet, and boggling at "meeting" a favorite author that way.

Re: SPOILERS for JGR (er, a trifle ranty, perhaps)

[siliconivy.livejournal.com]

i got something new each time i read Tam Lin, but always had a feeling that there was a whole 'nother level to it that I was just ... missing.

I seem to remember being confused by the parental reaction as well, and couldn't figure out if it was because they felt incapable of dealing with it (which, if they were characters from Tam Lin, didn't make sense) or if they felt, like you said, the daughters had to handle on their own. Wasn't there something about them thinking Juniper couldn't handle but Gentian could?

Now you're making me want to dig through my boxes of books to find them so I can re-read!

out of curiosity did you ever read Moonwise by Greer Ilene Gilman. It came out originally back in the early 90s, then was re-released in 2005 or 2006.

Re: SPOILERS for JGR (er, a trifle ranty, perhaps)

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

I don't think they were characters out of Tam Lin, just that this is the town near Blackstock and the father, I think, went there. But I don't believe any characters actually overlap the two books.

Yeah, I think there was something about them being surprised by Gentian being the one caught. I think Juniper was more "boy crazy" in their eyes (a few years older, as well - prime age for doing something stupid over a guy) and Gentian surprised them.

It's said explicitly that the mom is caught in a time loop - constantly thinking that they are "just about" to handle the situation, but I don't know if the father is as well - or if he is, why he isn't more apologetic! I want Gentian to rescue herself, I just can't buy the way it's set up.

Heh, the thing of it is that even with these big issues I have with the book, I still adore it.

I tried to read Moonwise a while back, and something about the prose kept me bouncing off it. I don't think I made it past the first thirty pages of the book, if that far.

Re: SPOILERS for JGR (er, a trifle ranty, perhaps)

[siliconivy.livejournal.com]

re: Moonwise. thank you!! good to know i'm not the only one. I tried multiple times to read it; the last time I got about 1/4 through it but still bailed in the end. yet all the glowing reviews, not being able to get through it made me feel (again) rather stupid or something.

re: JRG. Now I *have* to go dig it out. For some reason, I came out of it thinking that the parents were the characters from Tam Lin. You are probably right & I was confused. It happens, me getting confused.

thinking of you!

[(Anonymous)]

Good luck with the MRI! You'll kick its butt.

Cher

Re: thinking of you!

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

I did! Despite the fact that it took a whole hour, it was actually much easier this time. Don't know why, but I'm very glad.