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On a minor DWJ kick, and just fascinated by how the same themes come up in her writing again and again. She's one of those writers whose work forms a fairly coherent whole - or, at least, each of her books gains from being read in the context of all the others. I noticed this because I think The Merlin Conspiracy is a fairly explicit rethinking of the relationship between magic, the land, family and government set up in the Chrestomanci books (and I think it explains why she can't write a sequel to Charmed Life - her heroes now are turning down Government posts, not being trained for them from early adolescence).
Anyway. So I read The Homeward Bounders, slightly doubtfully because I find it difficult stuff, and it's still very difficult stuff. It's one of the few really tragic YA novels - by which I mean that the ending is sad and harsh and bad, but also it's integral to the logic of the book: it's not a punishment inflicted on anyone for transgressing, or a cheap angstfest - that doesn't annoy me... And now I'm reading Archer's Goon, which is a more anarchic, freewheeling take on some of the same stuff (isolation from the family, the 'secret rulers' of the world, etc). Howard is a nice version of The Classic DWJ Boy: a bit less sad and self-doubting than Cat or Gair, but not as close to The Bumptious DWJ Boy (Nick, Howl, Archer) as Jamie. (Hmm. Jamie - who falls exactly between the two types - might be one of the reasons I find Homeward Bounders so crushingly sad.)
Plus it always amazes me how many DWJ books have a cross-generational romantic relationship (and where the girl is, like, eight when they first meet): you wouldn't expect it in a children's writer.
Oh, and I also read Where Is Joey?, by MOrris Yanoff, a memoir about trying to get their grandson back from the Hare Krishnas in the 70s, but it wasn't as good as Every Secret Thing by Patty Hearst, which I can recommend if only for the line "Living together was a very 'in' thing in those days, much like roller disco is today." |
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