54 Fairfield Street
Watchung Plaza
Montclair, NJ 07042
973.744.7177
Watchung Plaza
Montclair, NJ 07042
973.744.7177
Aloha,
Showing
that talking about reading books can be as much or more fun than
actually reading them, the Beamers gathered for a discussion of
"Charmed Life" by Diana Wynne Jones with a plethora of members who had
not dived headfirst into the work but were still happy to congregate.
On the other page, some members like Carol and Rick were happy enough
to continue reading onward into the 2nd book of the series ("The Lives
of Christopher Chant"). Interestingly, the reasons for both skipping
and reading onward were remarkably similar - the gentle tone of Ms.
Jones's fantasy lulling the reader, sometimes to sleep, sometimes to
keep flipping pages. One person's "subtle" is another's
"underwritten", we could say.
Compared
to many of her other works, "Charmed Life" is a more realistically
drawn and underplayed fantasy. While flashes of Ms. Jones's vivid
imagination poke through (like the idea of magic gingerbread man
cookies that involve actual pursuit prior to being eaten) and her ideas
resonate well with her character descriptions (like Mrs. Sharp's poor
gingerbread men that merely wave their limbs feebly and put our hero,
Cat, off the idea of eating them as "unsporting"), the overall tone of
the book is a rather prosaic coming-of-age tale in an old-fashioned
"school days" romance style (confined setting, close focus on
adolescent interpersonal relationships). We agreed that the portrayals
of Eric "Cat" Chant, his odious if superficially charming sister
Gwendolen, and their family and sponsors were neatly drawn and given to
the reader with sufficient telling remarks to explain their actions
without being spoilers to the plot twists. But, we still split over
how some of the action could be accomplished, especially as the rules
of the magic being used were never spelled out. The central
relationships of Cat and Gwendolyn and Cat and Chrestomanci, the
guardian of the magic, are especially tied up with how magic works (and
how it can be stolen). So, without much textual authority, we were
left to debate on our own just what motivates each of our main
characters in the major points of the novel.
Still,
the novel succeeds in showing us how Eric matures, with his viewpoint
gradually becoming more understanding of the flaws and foibles of his
nearest and dearest. Mrs. Sharp, his guardian, shrinks in stature as
Eric grows up but in ways that leave us fond of her and understanding
of Eric's continuing affection toward her. The homicidally ambitious
Gwendolen, however, did puzzle us a bit more, as her evil nature seems
to overgrow even the grasping if slightly ridiculous schemes of the
seedy sorcerers of Coven Street, where she and Cat first lived. The
sibling rivalry between her and Eric did strike a number of us as
familiar, even without the issue of younger sibling human sacrifice for
most of us. (Kevin did seem to have some strong ideas on the topic,
though...) Generally, though, the humor (Mrs. Sharp's eyes turning
"greedy and beady", "financial wizard" not being just a play on words)
and numerous sly touches (like Eric's tin soldiers running away from
the battle since his cousin Julia thought that the more sensible
approach, for example) kept us reading. Plus, the climax does arise
out of the preceding material and is not plopped down, deus-ex-machina
fashion, even if most of us wished for a bit more exposition (and
admittedly kept two of us reading onward for answers). And those of us
familiar with Ms. Jones's other works, including her infrequent adult
novels and the animated adaptation of "Howl's Moving Castle", put in a
plug for her that was accepted by the other Beamers.
For
August, we will be fighting the "Old Man's War" with John Scalzi. In
September, we will see if we can stand the heat with "Kiln People" by
David Brin (Note: This book is out of print. If you need help finding
a copy, please contact Marina at Watchung Booksellers.) For October,
we will travel back to a simpler time of manners, courtesies, and
undead horrors with "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" ("Elizabeth
presently drew her katana and cut off Lydia's head, which fell into the
open hatbox. 'I beg you all forgive me, but I could stand her
prattling no longer.'") As they say, you have to be there.
And,
as a wonderful nod to a major sf/fantasy artist, here is a link to an
article on Jack Vance in this week's NY Times Magazine: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/magazine/19Vance-t.html
Many, many thanks to Kevin for finding the article and sharing the link with us!
- Eugene, hoping to have been there, read that ...
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