My two book groups had independently chosen The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson and The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, books which seemed on the face of it to be entirely different things. One was a weepy tale being made into a film with swooping music, the other the kind of spare, testosterone-y thriller that my mother-in-law reads.
But there it was - rape and murder, in a cellar (or an underground hole, which counts as roughly the same thing). And themes of family ties, vengeance, and justice. Strangely though, in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the violence seemed easier to move on from - although it was horrific, and the author threw quotes at us about the number of women in Sweden who suffered violence, it had Plot Device stamped all over it. For a crime novel, there had to be a crime. There had to be Bad People, in order that we could more closely observe the lives of the Good People as they uncovered the truth. And to give us the requisite amount of tantalising uneasiness about whether or not the Good People were actually that blameless themselves.
But in The Lovely Bones, all we had was the repercussions of the crime, and the sadness and the grief and the loss. Not that the book wasn't stupendously beautifully written. But by the end I felt as if I had gone through a wringer, and even though my brain was bleating about how ridiculous this whole last bit was, and what on earth was going on now, my face was busy squeezing out big fat tears all over the page.
So today I have mostly been cruising round the house trying to find something to sweep all this misery away. I've settled on Prince Caspian - I think I'm on fairly safe ground here. Though who knows? Maybe I'll be adding 'No dwarves; no magical lions' to the list fairly soon.
I loved Prince Caspian, but there is the Wicked Uncle in it - that could relate to "family ties, vengeance, and justice".
ReplyDeleteI don't go a bundle on the whole rape and murder of young girls theme either - it does seem to be everywhere at the moment. Currently reading Miss Read from the library as an antidote to another graphic and gruesome (but good) scandinavian crime novel.
ReplyDeleteI'm so with you on the rape and murder thing. Really hate it on TV crime drama, too.
ReplyDeleteThe only safe place is Tilling. (Or Riseholme).
ReplyDeleteI'm with the List Writer: Miss Read is about all I can handle these days. Wimpy, I suppose. But my actual life, while rather lacking in the raped/murdered girl department (knock wood), is stressful enough without bringing Literature Stress into it.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the magical lions and dwarves...
No creepy uncles. I am quite strict about that - it is the after effect of reading Famous Five.
ReplyDeleteOh dear. When the kids were small my book group read the Alienist and the map of the World and made that decision -- no children coming to any harm at all. Now I'm been reading the new Audrey Niffenberger book and am formulating a new rule -- no harm to an children between the ages of 18 and 21, especially those living away from home. But I do agree -- the murder in the Dragon Tattoo book was pure plot device. It didn't bother me at all -- except I guess it did touch a little on the "children between 18 and 21" in some cases. Somehow I was able to ignore it.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed, no murdered or abused children. And I'm pretty close to putting an embargo on all "young adult fiction" unless it's actually written by young adults and not some patronising middle aged do gooder. Phew. That feels better.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know I had a rule until I read your post: I'll read most styles of story, but I only read fiction, and they're usually by women. I remember 'The Lovely Bones' as very moving and beautifully written, but not the detail(2005 my booklist says, which may explain it, but I'm afraid I just read and move on with little or no analysis). Having said that I've just read 'Of Mice and Men' because Eldest is studying it for GCSE and wanted to know what I thought. 'Enjoy' is not the word I'd use about it though it was a quick read and built to its inevitable climax beautifully. But there's a lot of death so I guess you'll be avoiding it!
ReplyDeleteThe Lovely Bones left a nasty taste in my mouth. I found it disturbing.
ReplyDeleteHave you read, 'The REturn of Mr Y.' yet? It is pure fantasy and would make a fab film (not a good sign!) but I couldn't put it down.
Please avoid The Other Hand by Chris Cleave then.
ReplyDeleteMy current embargo is on self-indulgent rich women jetting off round the world on journeys of self discovery. Not that I'm jealous or anything.
I know what you mean about The Lovely Bones, though I did enjoy reading it. I just read Lucky, passed on to me by a friend which I found even more distressing, but having read the first chapter I had to read on to the end to get some kind of resolution. No more rape and murder reads for me - I am immersing myself in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society this weekend.
ReplyDelete