Re: JCO: A Bloodsmoor Romance

Hi Jane,
I recently found a "Bloodsmoor Romance" in a used book store. It was in
the "romance" section of the store and a clever book seller thought she
remembered the author and found it for me.

I love the cheekiness of the writing, but haven't finished it yet as I
got started on "Blonde a novel" and am also still working my way
through Bellefleur.

And yes I can keep track of all three books at the same time! I have
never been able to do this with other authors before, but my opinion is
that JCO is such an amazing author that she doesn't write about
characters, but gives us real, honest-to-gosh people. So the experience
of *reading* more closely mirrors *life* in that once you've met a
*real* person and learned a bit about them, you can pretty easily
re-connect with them when you meet them again. Whereas in *regular*
novels, the persons are "characters" acting in "plots", all of which
for me is more difficult to keep track of...

I'd love to discuss Bloodsmoor when I'm done, maybe in early Jan, so
I'll keep whatever notes arise here and respond later ......

Also would love to discuss Blonde (when I'm done)...... it's quite
amazing ... more another time.

happy reading
ruth

On 8-Dec-04, at 2:51 PM, Jane wrote:

> Early fall there was some mention of discussing A Bloodsmoor Romance. I
> just finished this long novel and would love to discuss it with others.
> Is anyone else ready to discuss this work? Here are some initial
> comments to help start a conversation:
>
> It took a while for me to get involved in this story. The beginning,
> with the abduction of Dierdre by a black silken balloon, seemed
> preposterous (and it never is clearly explained), and the the style of
> writing seemed tedious at first. Then after about 50 pages, I began to
> enjoy the language used by the narrator and to appreciate the parady of
> a Victorian romance. The narrator writes in a 19th-century style,
> complete with moralizing sayings, and she has no problem about leaping
> ahead of her story and then circling back to one of the strings she
> left
> hanging. As she tells the story of the five Zinn sisters, she often
> condemns their behavior. She appears to hold rigid, conformist views of
> proper behavior and etiquette, all the while making those views seem
> ridiculous to our more "modern" ways of thinking. Although she tells us
> the subject is ''Christian marriage, that treasure so ignorantly
> spurned
> by three of our young Zinn ladies, in their frenzied quest for their
> own
> fortunes in the wide world,'' the real subject seems to be the destiny
> of women in the 19th century and the ways it has carried on into the
> present.
>
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There are two ways of living your life: one is as if nothing is a
miracle.  The other is as if everything is a miracle. -Albert Einstein