Bookflog: Danse Macabre
Apr. 21st, 2006 04:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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lkh_lashouts[Made this a couple of days ago, but only now getting round to posting it.]
So I'm reading the sample chapters and noting stuff down as I go along.
Chapter One
Have to laugh at the bit where Ronnie hints that once Anita was just JC's blood-whore, and now she's just his whore. That whole you're-sleeping-with-all-those-men aspect of their conversation seems like a swipe at LKH's detractors, with Ronnie taking the accusatory role more recently filled by the fans. Because, like the fans, Ronnie is sooooo wrong to say those dreadful things!
Anita's/LKH's stance on abortion doesn't bother me the way it has some. I've never really been bothered by the conflicts between Anita's past beliefs and present behaviour still being part of her make-up, because to me that seems natural. I know from experience what it's like to leave a lifelong religion and begin to behave in ways contrary to it, and I found that it's amazing how some of the old beliefs doggedly hang on despite whatever new context you might choose to live in.
Also, Anita (like her series, and, I would venture, the author) is still in the transitional phase. And in that phase it is possible to develop hybridised beliefs to compensate for the fact that you're neither wholly free of your old ways, or wholly settled into the new ones. Hence Anita's pro-choice-meets-pro-life feelings. If anything, what she says strikes me as being more progressive than Anita is often given credit for, amounting to: 'this is what I believe, but I'm not going to hold others to it, because I can't say how I'd feel in their situations.'
Anita 'putting on a show' with Nate: annoying. I know lycanthropes have this otherworldly physical energy about them, but would it kill her not to give into it just once, especially when it's obviously going to tip the balance with Ronnie. She decided to make out with Nate because she'd already given Micah attention, pointedly ignoring the consequences. It feels like the sort of obvious conflict Anita (who has learned to be less confrontational in monster stand-offs) ought to be able to avoid a bit more, leaving me to conclude that LKH pushed this to happen so she'd have reason for the problems with Ronnie to worsen. But it doesn't ring true that after all this time Anita would actually be making backward steps in relating to her friends/men.
Chapter Two
Oh. So that's what LKH was trying to force to happen: Ronnie spilled about the baby. So the author has a good reason, but she still picked a bad way of going about it.
It's good to see Nate flexing his muscles a bit and not just being a victim - the way he turns around the exchange with Ronnie is neat.
Chapter Three
"His perfectly straight black hair managed to fall decoratively over his brown eyes" - OF COURSE IT DID. HAIR IN THESE BOOKS NO LONGER OBEYS FORCES OF NATURE OR NARRATIVE PRECEDENCE. HAIRSTYLES MATTER MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF. Sorry. Had to get that off my chest. Nate's ankle-length hair was already enough.
"I didn't like the smile. It seemed to demand things from me that I wasn't willing to give to Graham. Didn't I have enough men in my life and my bed without adding anyone else? I thought so, but Graham didn't. " - Damn. What people have said elsewhere in this community is dead right: she really can't go near a man without there being attraction in one direction or the other. It feels somehow sexist that Anita ultimately relates to all men, even minor characters, through their sexual interest in her/vice versa. If a male lead in a similar book acted this way it'd be seen as old-fashioned and misogynistic.
As for Anita apparantly never meeting a man who doesn't fancy her, that seems not only hubristic but absurd - do none of them prefer blondes? Tall girls? Fat girls? Green-eyed girls? Asian girls? Quiet girls? Girls who tote guitars rather than guns? People are such individuals with such a range of favoured 'types', yet somehow every man in the tri-state area zooms in on Anita. Sure, there is a certain primal level on which people may be more attracted to someone who's unavailable, but then considering the frequency with which Anita adds to her harem I wouldn't think that would be such a big factor. If anything, people seem to see her as perpetually, potentially-available-in-the-near-future, which is a pretty sad way for a person, fictional or otherwise, to be viewed.
"Let's hear it for morals, or at least some semblance of standards." - Erm, yes. Let's.
Graham: why do I get the horrible feeling that this tension will lead to attempted rape of Anita, or murder of Nate?
The pomme de sang contest: well, it's certainly a novel idea...
Overall I'm reserving judgment on this book. There are obviously things that make me wince, but it won't be possible to say much more until we get to read the whole thing and can figure out if it has a plot or not.
So I'm reading the sample chapters and noting stuff down as I go along.
Chapter One
Have to laugh at the bit where Ronnie hints that once Anita was just JC's blood-whore, and now she's just his whore. That whole you're-sleeping-with-all-those-men aspect of their conversation seems like a swipe at LKH's detractors, with Ronnie taking the accusatory role more recently filled by the fans. Because, like the fans, Ronnie is sooooo wrong to say those dreadful things!
Anita's/LKH's stance on abortion doesn't bother me the way it has some. I've never really been bothered by the conflicts between Anita's past beliefs and present behaviour still being part of her make-up, because to me that seems natural. I know from experience what it's like to leave a lifelong religion and begin to behave in ways contrary to it, and I found that it's amazing how some of the old beliefs doggedly hang on despite whatever new context you might choose to live in.
Also, Anita (like her series, and, I would venture, the author) is still in the transitional phase. And in that phase it is possible to develop hybridised beliefs to compensate for the fact that you're neither wholly free of your old ways, or wholly settled into the new ones. Hence Anita's pro-choice-meets-pro-life feelings. If anything, what she says strikes me as being more progressive than Anita is often given credit for, amounting to: 'this is what I believe, but I'm not going to hold others to it, because I can't say how I'd feel in their situations.'
Anita 'putting on a show' with Nate: annoying. I know lycanthropes have this otherworldly physical energy about them, but would it kill her not to give into it just once, especially when it's obviously going to tip the balance with Ronnie. She decided to make out with Nate because she'd already given Micah attention, pointedly ignoring the consequences. It feels like the sort of obvious conflict Anita (who has learned to be less confrontational in monster stand-offs) ought to be able to avoid a bit more, leaving me to conclude that LKH pushed this to happen so she'd have reason for the problems with Ronnie to worsen. But it doesn't ring true that after all this time Anita would actually be making backward steps in relating to her friends/men.
Chapter Two
Oh. So that's what LKH was trying to force to happen: Ronnie spilled about the baby. So the author has a good reason, but she still picked a bad way of going about it.
It's good to see Nate flexing his muscles a bit and not just being a victim - the way he turns around the exchange with Ronnie is neat.
Chapter Three
"His perfectly straight black hair managed to fall decoratively over his brown eyes" - OF COURSE IT DID. HAIR IN THESE BOOKS NO LONGER OBEYS FORCES OF NATURE OR NARRATIVE PRECEDENCE. HAIRSTYLES MATTER MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF. Sorry. Had to get that off my chest. Nate's ankle-length hair was already enough.
"I didn't like the smile. It seemed to demand things from me that I wasn't willing to give to Graham. Didn't I have enough men in my life and my bed without adding anyone else? I thought so, but Graham didn't. " - Damn. What people have said elsewhere in this community is dead right: she really can't go near a man without there being attraction in one direction or the other. It feels somehow sexist that Anita ultimately relates to all men, even minor characters, through their sexual interest in her/vice versa. If a male lead in a similar book acted this way it'd be seen as old-fashioned and misogynistic.
As for Anita apparantly never meeting a man who doesn't fancy her, that seems not only hubristic but absurd - do none of them prefer blondes? Tall girls? Fat girls? Green-eyed girls? Asian girls? Quiet girls? Girls who tote guitars rather than guns? People are such individuals with such a range of favoured 'types', yet somehow every man in the tri-state area zooms in on Anita. Sure, there is a certain primal level on which people may be more attracted to someone who's unavailable, but then considering the frequency with which Anita adds to her harem I wouldn't think that would be such a big factor. If anything, people seem to see her as perpetually, potentially-available-in-the-near-future, which is a pretty sad way for a person, fictional or otherwise, to be viewed.
"Let's hear it for morals, or at least some semblance of standards." - Erm, yes. Let's.
Graham: why do I get the horrible feeling that this tension will lead to attempted rape of Anita, or murder of Nate?
The pomme de sang contest: well, it's certainly a novel idea...
Overall I'm reserving judgment on this book. There are obviously things that make me wince, but it won't be possible to say much more until we get to read the whole thing and can figure out if it has a plot or not.
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no subject
Date: 2006-04-21 09:41 pm (UTC)Judith'll LOVE Richard, ask her why she doesn't stick with Richard. Richard, Richard, Richard. He'll use that to his vantage to win back her monogamy, despite never having it in the first place. More wangst ensues.
Micah asks, "What about me?"... Judith mutters something about being allergic to cats, before she drugs him with vodka and tuna and locks him in the closet. Then distracts Nathaniel with Comet and the floors and bathrooms that need a-scrubbin'.
Like I said, awesome!
Best. Villian. EVER!
no subject
Date: 2006-04-21 10:07 pm (UTC)The clock ticks loudly in the background.
Anita's father shifts uncomfortably in his chair. "So...you're...a vampire? How's that working out for you?"
no subject
Date: 2006-04-21 10:29 pm (UTC)the story practically writes itself.
Jason'll be upstairs playing video games with Josh. At some point Jason'll turn to Josh and say, "You're family is seriously fucked up. You know that, right?"
Josh: "Why do you think I've locked myself in here?"
no subject
Date: 2006-04-21 11:12 pm (UTC)We so need to write this.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-22 12:17 am (UTC)ooh I smell dinner!