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Mar. 5th, 2009 12:50 pmPamela Dean is one of those authors who has some very specific quirks-verging-on-flaws, and whether or not you like her depends a lot on whether or not you like those quirks. Her characters are all unnaturally well-read and often talk in quotes, there are long passages that serve no plot purpose talking about people's reactions to books and plays, and the plot tends to kind of whoomch in at you at the very end after a long period of slow daily-life buildup getting to know the characters. Anyone who has read Tam Lin knows all this, and anyone who likes Tam Lin probably likes all this! I mean, speaking for myself, I love reading about what characters are thinking about Shakespeare, so if Pamela Dean wants to have a full chapter of people talking about how annoyed they are with Brutus, I am certainly not going to complain - though I can totally understand how people would!
Anyways, my point here is that Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary has all of those same quirks/flaws, except even moreso. Instead of just bandying quotes around one character talks entirely in quotes, there is internal poetry and chapters dedicated entirely to Shakespeare and, oh yes, most of the actual plot takes place in aroun thirty pages at the end, which last I will admit I found sort of frustrating here even though I was cool with it in Tam Lin.
Honestly I kind of found the whole book a little frustrating - but at the same time, I was enjoying it tremendously and really enjoyed reading it! It's a great book for the Bechdel Test, for a start. Although the titular Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary are sisters, the real focus of the book is on Gentian and her close-knit group of friends, the Giant Ants - the dynamics between them and the realistic friend-group politics, the dorky traditions that tie them together and the things that are pushing them apart as they get older. I loved what of the sister-dynamic we got, and I loved the Giant Ants and I would happily have read a book just about them even without bringing in the Lurking Possible Supernaturalness of Creepy Dominic Next Door (Who Only Speaks In Quotes.)
In fact, the Dominic thing - and the plot that came in at the end - is what I found most frustrating. ( Spoilers! )
In short - I really enjoyed reading it, it catered to a lot of my fun-reading kinks, but I'm not sure it actually came together as a book.
Anyways, my point here is that Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary has all of those same quirks/flaws, except even moreso. Instead of just bandying quotes around one character talks entirely in quotes, there is internal poetry and chapters dedicated entirely to Shakespeare and, oh yes, most of the actual plot takes place in aroun thirty pages at the end, which last I will admit I found sort of frustrating here even though I was cool with it in Tam Lin.
Honestly I kind of found the whole book a little frustrating - but at the same time, I was enjoying it tremendously and really enjoyed reading it! It's a great book for the Bechdel Test, for a start. Although the titular Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary are sisters, the real focus of the book is on Gentian and her close-knit group of friends, the Giant Ants - the dynamics between them and the realistic friend-group politics, the dorky traditions that tie them together and the things that are pushing them apart as they get older. I loved what of the sister-dynamic we got, and I loved the Giant Ants and I would happily have read a book just about them even without bringing in the Lurking Possible Supernaturalness of Creepy Dominic Next Door (Who Only Speaks In Quotes.)
In fact, the Dominic thing - and the plot that came in at the end - is what I found most frustrating. ( Spoilers! )
In short - I really enjoyed reading it, it catered to a lot of my fun-reading kinks, but I'm not sure it actually came together as a book.
