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Has anyone here read Michel Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White? I have a question about the character of Henry Rackham at the end of the book, but it's not worth starting a thread over. The question is why do you think Faber had Henry pop up in a number of characters' thoughts in the end, long after he had died? Faber even made the point of having Sugar, who had only seen Henry once in passing, think she saw him on the bus as she fled London. Also, in the book's "sequel" of sorts, The Apple and other stories, a grown Sophie has named her son Henry. I just thought that was curious, and I feel like Henry must have a greater symbolic or philosophical significance for Faber to keep him in the characters' (and readers') thoughts like this, when nothing about the plot or other characters' stories necessitates it. (I loving love this book, by the way. It's one of the only books I've ever read every single word of without skimming, and I've also listened to the ~40-hour audio book twice. The narration itself is so enchanting.  )
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Nov 1, 2011 02:01
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| # ¿ May 20, 2024 06:47 |
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Irisi posted:I think Henry very much symbolises the fact that is hammered home over and over in the novel: that idealism, rigid adherence to a belief system and lofty morals cannot survive in the grubby reality of ever-changing London. Henry (and poor Agnes) couldn't adapt in the way Sugar or Mrs Fox do, and consequently find it impossible to survive. Henry is one of my favorite literary characters ever, and while I love Mark Gatiss, he is not how I imagine Henry at all....so now I really have to see this adaptation to see what he makes of him. (And looking at the IMDB page, Romola Garai as Sugar? Gillian Anderson as Mrs. Castaway? There's all kinds of eccentric casting up in this joint!) Editing this a day later but whatever: I think, too, that Faber may have put Henry in all those characters' thoughts at the end because he -- as one of the few characters in the novel who was singularly good-hearted and completely free of malice -- had left an impression on them, however tangential their connection was to him. He would have been unlike any man Sugar had ever met, someone who would not have seen her as a resource to consume, and I think that however indirect their interaction was in that scene at church, something in Sugar's nature recognized him for what he was and subconsciously felt his absence from the world after he had gone. Maybe I'll make a thread about this book when I have the time. Rabbit Hill fucked around with this message at 14:45 on Nov 9, 2011 |
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Nov 8, 2011 22:39
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Heads up to anybody in the West Chester, PA area -- Tim O'Brien is coming to speak here on West Chester University campus on Monday night, to close out the Big Read community program (we read The Things They Carried). It's free and open to the public, PM me if you want more details.
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Nov 7, 2013 18:16
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How is John LeCarrč's last name pronounced?
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Oct 22, 2014 21:06
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seravid posted:
While it's true that the Idiot is better, it's a much harder read than Crime and Punishment because it's also more flawed. Put it another way: I read Crime and Punishment in one go, and loved it. I read The Idiot only after something like 7 attempts over 9 years, and only after some time had passed was I able to look back on it and realize I loved it and it was in fact my favorite Dostoevsky novel. Start with Crime and Punishment, then read Notes from Underground.
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Feb 23, 2015 18:30
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ulvir posted:so there;ll be some saucy harry potter books for adults in the stores the enxt few years There already are some (kinda - YA): http://www.amazon.com/City-Bones-Mortal-Instruments-Book/dp/1416955070 Clary = Ginny Jace = Draco
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Mar 26, 2015 17:28
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| # ¿ May 20, 2024 06:47 |
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I'm 3/4 of the way through Lady Chatterley's Lover and it is goddamn fantastic, but the two people IRL I've tried to discuss it with have only given these dumbass "WhoooOOOooo, look at you reading a dirty book!!!" replies and killed the conversation. Even after I pointed out that it's not dirty at all by today's standards and any random Romance novel has 300% more sex scenes that are 30x more explicit, they just kept going on like 12-year-old boys. (And the sex scenes aren't even sexy, and that's even kind of the point!) It's mostly about the massive upheaval that Industry and Mechanization wrought upon formerly rural England and its class system, and what that does to men and women as individuals and to the relations between them. It's great. Everyone should read it. Or read DH Lawrence's novella, The Fox. It is also great, touches on the same issues, and doesn't have the same reputation of LCL so you can actually talk with your friends about it like grown-rear end adults!
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Aug 31, 2015 19:45
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