Current reading binge: Sarah Waters
Sep. 28th, 2014 07:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sienamysticSarah Waters is one of those authors I've been meaning to get around to, and since her newest book is either just here or is about to arrive, I finally got to the library to see what I could find. Luckily they had Fingersmith, one of the books I've heard most recommended, and I tore through it on Friday and Saturday and was thoroughly caught up in it. It was a really enthralling read, just as I had hoped.
I just polished off The Little Stranger, and found a very Turn-Of-The-Screw story with the parallels of the upper class in England decaying along with the very house that stands at the center of the book. It was creepy and fascinating, but was the tiniest bit overlong. Still, a great read. I've seen some impatience with the narrator, who is awkwardly caught between social classes, and while I didn't dislike him completely, he is placed in the position of being the rational voice tut-tutting about the supernatural elements, and you can kind of picture him being shoved aside by, say, the Winchester brothers, who would call him an idiot, produce the rock salt, and take care of things. Obviously that would be an undesirable crossing of tropes but I admit the thought crossed my mind.
Oh, and a mild spoiler for the book:
The source of the ghost/supernatural presence is left very vague, and a number of suspects are presented: Betty (traditional poltergeist fueled by teenage angst), Mrs. Ayers (tied to her dead daughter), and Dr. Faraday (the narrator) himself - he certainly seems to have successfully driven everyone out of the house and now has it all to himself. I think some people find the doctor a far more sinister character than I do, but I also think it's the line that makes the most sense.
Next up is The Night Watch.
In other news, have had two meetings with new therapist and am unsure about things. She's a very nice lady but I feel like I've presented myself as a person far more pulled-together than I actually feel.
I just polished off The Little Stranger, and found a very Turn-Of-The-Screw story with the parallels of the upper class in England decaying along with the very house that stands at the center of the book. It was creepy and fascinating, but was the tiniest bit overlong. Still, a great read. I've seen some impatience with the narrator, who is awkwardly caught between social classes, and while I didn't dislike him completely, he is placed in the position of being the rational voice tut-tutting about the supernatural elements, and you can kind of picture him being shoved aside by, say, the Winchester brothers, who would call him an idiot, produce the rock salt, and take care of things. Obviously that would be an undesirable crossing of tropes but I admit the thought crossed my mind.
Oh, and a mild spoiler for the book:
The source of the ghost/supernatural presence is left very vague, and a number of suspects are presented: Betty (traditional poltergeist fueled by teenage angst), Mrs. Ayers (tied to her dead daughter), and Dr. Faraday (the narrator) himself - he certainly seems to have successfully driven everyone out of the house and now has it all to himself. I think some people find the doctor a far more sinister character than I do, but I also think it's the line that makes the most sense.
Next up is The Night Watch.
In other news, have had two meetings with new therapist and am unsure about things. She's a very nice lady but I feel like I've presented myself as a person far more pulled-together than I actually feel.