(no subject)

[skygiants]

Elizabeth Goudge's Linnets and Valerians was a rec from fahye based on my abiding love for English children's fantasy centered around siblings having ADVENTURES. And it is, indeed, a lovely E. Nesbit-ian children's fantasy about siblings having adventures! However - unusually for me, when reading a book like this - my attention was actually most captured not by the siblings (although they were awesome! My favorite was Robert who was constantly deciding he was Robin Hood or a pirate or Sir Walter Raleigh and acting accordingly, much to everyone's frustration, because I totally did that), or even their awesomely Merriman Lyonesque sarcastic vicar uncle, but Emma Cobley.

But Becca! someone who has read the book might say. Emma Cobley is the villainness and a being largely of evil, you are not supposed to love her! To which I say, yes, but she has so much aplomb! I have never read a children's fantasy villainness who makes it to the end of the book as unperturbed as Emma Cobley does. She sails through the book with a cheery smile and a magical cat of evil and a couple of useful minions and doesn't bat an eye when caught in the act, just turns up the charm and saunters back to her grocery store! When thwarted in her wicked deeds at the end - and her wicked deeds were pretty reasonably wicked, I must say - she is pretty much like 'oh well, guess that didn't work out' and calmly continues living in the village and becomes a respected citizen and everyone's just like "I guess . . . her grocery store is nice?" I want to read a book where she is the cheerfully amoral heroine! I want to read fanfic about her backstory of secretly reading medical books at night and seducing younger men! Basically, though early-twentieth-century children's fantasy novels are lovely and I adore them, Emma Cobley is too awesome for the early-twentieth-century children's fantasy novel.

However, Mr. Valerian the Jilter totally did not deserve either Alicia or Emma. Also I find it far too creepy that Nan ended up marrying Baby Valerian considering he is like twenty years older than her and met her when she was twelve! Do not want. D:

But the magic bees were awesome. I totally loved how every time a baby Linnet wandered off and got lost, Ezra was like "OH, they have three BEES with them, then they will be fine! :D"

Comments

[fahye.livejournal.com]

This is where I confess that I am writing fanfic about how Timothy is gay (SO gay. did you even catch all the stuff about he is 'pretty' and 'delicate' and 'oh btw he never marries even though CLEARLY the author has a fetish for marrying people off neatly') and goes off to Oxford and falls in love with another boy who may or may not be an incarnation of the god Pan.

SHHHH.

the fic has bees

[skygiants]

HAHAHA I WAS SO GOING TO MENTION SOMETHING about how Timothy was so, so gay. (The part at the end! With Oxford! SO SUBTLE, Author. SO. SUBTLE.)

. . . . . I WANT TO SEE THAT FANFIC SO BAD. *SHINY EYES*

[fahye.livejournal.com]

I must have read this book ten times as a wee innocent child and I NEVER PICKED UP ON IT. So rereading it last year made Timothy a whole new character.

[skygiants]

I have to admit I didn't pay Timothy a lot of attention until the end, but when you think about it, he's really the kid that makes the conscious decision to believe - Nan kind of gets sucked into the magic unwillingly, Betsy's little and Robert's in it for the Adventure, but Timothy's the one who falls for the creepy-magic-mystery of it. He's the Lucy, in a way!

[fahye.livejournal.com]

Now I am all excited about my fic again. Maybe I'll open it up when I get back to my main computer.