tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994072470312639837.post1920302398464093924..comments2024-03-26T15:49:05.333-07:00Comments on Criminal Minds: Metaphors in the AtticJosh Stallingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913654176433125233noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994072470312639837.post-47942076605987229982019-02-21T11:42:16.634-08:002019-02-21T11:42:16.634-08:00Yup! does that make your heart sing?Yup! does that make your heart sing?Susan C Sheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18225627756540127032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994072470312639837.post-39407566801095220582019-02-21T11:00:09.810-08:002019-02-21T11:00:09.810-08:00WAIT! That's Wallace? He was such a goofy look...WAIT! That's Wallace? He was such a goofy looking little kid and he grew up to be Erik????catrionahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07377696246539539528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994072470312639837.post-40605973397199551162019-02-21T10:45:07.752-08:002019-02-21T10:45:07.752-08:00Yes, the murder of Wallace in the first season of ...Yes, the murder of Wallace in the first season of The Wire was a shock to everyone, and absolutely haunting. George Pelecanos wrote it and he later said he heard it was an emotional day for the cast and crew. "Everyone loved Michael B Jordan [who played Wallace]. " It was so traumatic that I was actually thrilled to read Jordan is alive and well and co-starring in The Black Panther! I was rooting for Wallace and wanting to shelter him. Great writing, great acting - it had so much meaning.Susan C Sheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18225627756540127032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994072470312639837.post-25835031391838235622019-02-21T08:55:24.858-08:002019-02-21T08:55:24.858-08:00All so very true, Kris and Lyndee.
A book is onl...All so very true, Kris and Lyndee. <br /><br />A book is only half the story and I can't imagine what I would have made of FitA if I'd read at 13. I didn't identify with the children - I wanted to steam in and save them - and I didn't identify with the adults (because their choices had put me beyond feeling any interest in what had led to those choices). I identified with the author. I pretty much read the whole book in inverted commas. <br /><br />Even at that I was in (amaryllis aside) until the last forty pages, when the pacing turned into what felt like a domino fall of revelations.<br /><br />catrionahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07377696246539539528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994072470312639837.post-55201728511142234172019-02-21T08:13:48.277-08:002019-02-21T08:13:48.277-08:00I will follow on to much of what Kris said above—I...I will follow on to much of what Kris said above—I was 13 the first time I read this book, and the world was a different place than it is today. We didn't have every horrid thing a human can conceive of doing in our faces every minute thanks to smartphones and the Internet, and we didn't have people who stormed into schools and churches on shooting sprees. So the crimes against the children in this book were shocking, horrifying, and at least to me at the time: so unimaginable that had to be make-believe. I suspect if I were to open FitA for the first time today I would react in much the same way you did, Catriona. But back in middle school, I read books where kids dying was a central plot point every single week (Lurlene McDaniel, anyone?), and Cory's death in the book didn't really shock me that I recall. I just felt sorry for Carrie, and I loathed and despised the mom and grandma because, as a child myself, I identified with the kids, put myself in their shoes, and thought about all the ways I would try to get back at the villainous people keeping them locked away. <br /><br />Today, especially as a mom, I imagine I would find it difficult to comprehend how anybody could be so cruel and evil, and maybe too heartbreaking to read about children trapped in such a horrid situation. Now that I think about it that way, I wonder if that's why these novels have been repackaged and marketed for YA since I read them. When I was a kid they were solidly in the "general (read: grown-up) fiction" section of the bookstore, which was part of the appeal for me at the time.<br /><br />And at 13, it seems I was a bit naive, because the metaphor about the flower bud went right over my head. I don't even remember it. :) LynDeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14399945394854595567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994072470312639837.post-24135869524237352112019-02-21T07:52:56.255-08:002019-02-21T07:52:56.255-08:00Melodramatic was a word invented for Flowers in th...Melodramatic was a word invented for Flowers in the Attic (not really, but you know what I mean.)<br /><br />I think much depends on when you read the book in one's life - I know that both I and LynDee Walker will stand by this book - but I suspect if either of us had first read it now, our reaction would feel very different. <br /><br />There is still much debate about how much of FITA was fiction and how much of it was directly influences by Virgina's life. Wheelchair-bound and isolated, there is no doubt in my mind that her view of life was tainted by a lack of socialization. And sadly, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a history of abuse in her life. <br /><br />As for Cory's death, I will defend that forever. He was a true innocent and I want my books to reflect the real world. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sure, it's fine to be one of those folks for whom the risk to children or the death of an animal is is just "too much" for an enjoyable past time, I get it. But as readers of crime fiction, we really can't "throw stones" because more than one of our favorite novels is sure to have questionable content and deaths that somehow we manage to overlook. <br /><br />It's not a classic piece of literature and it's not intended to be. It's a pulp novel intended to shock. I won't go into details, but interestingly, the fifth book in the series (a prequel) negates much of the action in FITA that seems questionable - while opening other avenues of equally disturbing behavior.<br /><br />There are continuing themes through all of VC Andrews' books, even once the ghost-writer took over and continues her legacy. I don't see the amaryllis metaphor as any more objectionable than Thomas Hardy's sudden rainstorms in books like Far From the Madding Crowd. Literature has a tradition of using nature to signify sexual activity. Whether that is good or bad is debatable, but it's a trope for a reason.Kristopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03363799437065223093noreply@blogger.com