Tuesday, December 9, 2008

I finally finished reading!

I finally finished the book! I know; I'm slow. I was slow to start, but I think I picked up April's copy at the library just as she turned it in. Overall, I enjoyed the read. It was refreshing to read something that made me think more than the Twilight books or the other teen lit I've been reading lately. I'm glad we read a classic this go around.

As for the questions, I did the same as April and read the intro in the book. It gave the SP away so early. While that was a bit of a let-down, it allowed me to watch how the author developed his character through Percy while most readers were unsuspecting of his identity. The only other real prospect in my eyes was the prince.

Was Marguerite justified in her actions? Who truly can say when someone is justified. I like what Sarah said about the brother vs. the stranger, but wouldn't the brother have been disappointed for betraying the man he himself had sworn loyalty to plus what about the fact that the SP had saved over 100 lives and was potentially to save many more? I don't know. I'm just grateful I'm not in the same situation. However, did anyone else feel that since Marguerite was the most intellectual woman in Europe that she should have been able to avoid being led to rat out the Marquis de St. Cyr and then come up with something at the end other than hide in the darkness, scream at the shack, and then faint? I am so grateful that more is expected from women in books now. I know she didn't eat or sleep for three days and she tore her feet up walking after everyone, but come on. Couldn't she have done something with her pretty little intellectual head?

Lastly, I knew Percy was the Jew the moment he entered the picture. For one thing, I like to pay attention to the characters the author spends time on. They're usually important figures some how. Also, again, the stoop. It was a dead give away.

My last two things to discuss - how do you visualize the author? The intro to my book described Marguerite as being the author's ideal representation of herself. Basically, the author was everything Marguerite was not - tall vs short, slender vs plump, actress vs writer, etc. I read the book with a slightly comical slant due to this info. It changed the way I read Marguerite. I enjoyed her character, but I'm not sure I'd write myself as being so incapable. Also, my book mentioned that this book was patterned after and easily adapted to the stage. Think on how each scene was set up. The play is being put on is Salt Lake City this upcoming summer. Does anyone want to go? I think it would be really fun.

As for books to read, I would love to read either or both of April's suggestions. If we don't end up discussing them until January, that would be fine with me. In fact, I wouldn't mind if we plan a few books out and we can read them as we go.

2 comments:

Ranee` said...

Do you mean pick out a list of books and just read them instead of one per month?

charlesfam said...

Sorry about the confusion. Here are my thoughts. Why don't we come up with a few books in advance so we know what we're reading in January, February, and March, for example? That way we can move from one to the next or be able to plan how to get upcoming books. Another thought is, what if we set up a date to have books read by, say the 25th or something. This is mostly for me since, as you could tell, I finished the book in December rather than November. We could even set something up that the last week of the month is the week to post our thoughts about the book. However, in all honesty, I don't mind if anyone posts any time either. Or, we could all just meet at my house in Pocatello. Just some ideas.