Appreciation Post

Costco membership: $50. 

The Entire Jeeves and Wooster series (with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry): $24. 

A rainy afternoon: priceless.

Guess what I did today :) 

Book Review: Dead Man's Ransom, by Ellis Peters

Dead Man's Ransom is one of those stories that tends to start out strong for me but then wanes after a while. I think it's because the conclusion is fairly obvious from an early point, if only the reader applies a little critical thinking. I also think that the romance angle is somewhat less touching than I wanted it to be. Try as I might, I didn't appreciate the girl who represents the female portion of the love story; and the peripheral elements are much stronger. This means, however, that the story doesn't hold together all that well and, frankly, that it's harder to work up a give-a-darn about it.

But that's just me. I never loved Dead Man's Ransom.

The story is set in February of 1141, with Hugh Beringar and the other men of Shrewsbury returning from the failed Battle of Lincoln. King Stephen has lost power on this occasion, and more importantly for Shrewsbury the sheriff Gilbert Prestcote has been captured. In a more unexpected twist, the sheriff's captors are the Welsh. For the most part, the Welsh prince Owain Gwynedd stays out of England's problems and minds his own borders, but his troublesome brother Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd, along with Madog ap Maredudd (from Powys) decided to get involved and side with the empress.

Shortly after Hugh's return, he receives word that there might be a chance to fetch the lord sheriff home. The Welsh got a little too excited by their successes at Lincoln and made inroads into the forests near Shrewsbury. They made the mistake of attacking -- of all people -- the nuns at Godric's Ford. The ladies were ready for them, rejecting the invaders and capturing one of them. The possibility of an exchange arises, since the Welsh captive is clearly well born and his family will want him returned. So, Hugh requests Cadfael's assistance in a trip to Wales, and Cadfael heartily agrees (with the abbot's approval, of course).

Naturally, a little hitch arises in the process. During his captivity, the Welsh prisoner Elis ap Cynan has actually fallen in love with the sheriff's daughter Melicent. Unfortunately for Elis, he is already betrothed to a girl in Wales, but he will gladly give her up to pursue Melicent. Unfortunately for both of them, the sheriff is unlikely to give his daughter to a member of the very group of people who recently captured him. So, Elis is miserable and eager to find a path through the tangle of his and Melicent's situation.

What happens next isn't exactly surprising: the sheriff is murdered. At first, it looks like the sheriff's death might have been the result of natural causes: after all, the man was very ill from his battle wounds. But a closer look reveals that someone's hand is responsible for tipping the man toward death. The automatic assumption is that Elis is the guilty party, particularly since he is known to have entered the sheriff's room while he was resting, and Melicent also jumps to that conclusion. She rejects Elis outright and then requests admission to Godric's Ford. Elis is mortified, but he certainly didn't kill his love's father. Barring his inability to convince her otherwise, he continues moping around Shrewsbury.

Then, the Welsh return to wreak havoc on Godric's Ford again, and Elis is off to save Melicent. Along the way, things start to get very complicated. Fortunately, Cadfael is able to sort through the tangle and place the guilt where it belongs. The sad part is that the resolution doesn't really make the reader feel much better, and I'm not sure much is actually resolved in the end. It's just kind of...there. At least Elis and Melicent overcome their problems. But the weakness of their romance just doesn't do enough to make the story work as well as others do.

Year of publication: 1984
Number of pages: 288

Book Review: The Devil's Novice, by Ellis Peters

Another favorite of mine. The story taps into the struggles of family relationships and the problems that arise when one child is favored over another. The result is a mystery that manages to be both sweet and haunting.

The Devil's Novice opens in September of 1140, with the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul considering two separate requests for application. The one request is for the admission of an oblate (that is, a young child who is being given to the Church). The other request comes from a father asking the abbey to accept his nineteen-year old son. Abbot Radulfus considers both requests carefully and denies the first while approving the second. And thus Meriet Aspley comes to join the fold in Shrewsbury.

From the start, there is something that doesn't quite fit with Meriet. For one, his relationship with his father seems a bit...chilled. As his father leaves the abbey, he doesn't so much as give his son a second look, much less an embrace to wish him well. And then, there are the nightmares. Meriet is haunted by something, and he screams and weeps in his sleep -- without having any idea of it the next morning. The other novices dub him "the devil's novice" out of fear that he is possessed of some evil.

Cadfael doesn't believe that Meriet is possessed of evil, but he does believe that Meriet is hiding something inside and that he joined the abbey for all the wrong reasons. It doesn't take long, after all, to figure out that Meriet is born more to the manor than the cloister. But Meriet is flatly determined to become a monk, and he begs the abbot to allow him to take his vows early. The abbot is concerned about Meriet's vocation and encourages patience while Meriet learns the ways of the Church at a slower pace.

Meanwhile -- because there is always a "meanwhile" is a Cadfael novel -- the abbey receives a visit from the high-ranking Canon Eluard, who is there on behalf of the Bishop of Winchester. One of the bishop's clerics, Peter Clemence, has disappeared, and Canon Eluard is hoping to speak with Meriet about it. It turns out that the Aspleys are distant relatives of Peter Clemence and that the cleric stayed at their estate while he passed through. Meriet remembers the man, of course, but disclaims any knowledge of his whereabouts after he left the Aspley home. That night, however, Meriet cries out the name of Clemence's horse, and it is clear there is more to his story than he is admitting.

With the abbot's approval, Cadfael pays a visit to the Aspley home to discuss Meriet's situation with his family. While there, he discovers a little more about the young man's life and his situation while he was growing up. Meriet is the younger son and never quiet lived up to his family's expectations. More to the point, his elder brother Nigel was always the golden child: tall, handsome, and everything his father would want in a son. Meriet has none of these qualities and has always been the lesser on every level -- certainly to his father. And his father makes it clear that he has nothing more to do with his son, and that he wants nothing more to do with his son. Cadfael can only wonder.

Once Cadfael starts to wonder, things start to happen. He asks the right question, digs around where he can, and puts the details together. The story becomes significantly darker once Cadfael sorts the mystery out, but at least Meriet earns the respect he always needed from his father. There is definitely something that works very well about this story, and I suspect it has to do with the family relationship that evolves. The name notwithstanding, The Devil's Novice has a great deal of heart and definitely ranks high on the must-read list of Cadfael novels.

Year of publication: 1983
Number of pages: 288

Personal Reading Challenge Update

So, how have I done? Not too badly, all things considered. I knew I had overdone my goals, so I'm happy with what I've accomplished thus far.

I finished The Faerie Queene and provided a somewhat disgruntled review of it here. As for the Cadfael series, I've read 10 of the 20 books to date (no, I'm not going to link each one), and I'm still reading. I just finished The Devil's Novice, and I'm reading through Dead Man's Ransom and am soon to begin The Heretic's Apprentice.

I'm enjoying the books so much that I'm going to keep reading. What I didn't know when I started this challenge is that many of these books are now out of print, so I can't just run to the bookstore and buy them. My library carries only a few, and I've had to find them where I can. I'm going to continue reading as I find the books, and I'll post reviews as I go.

Booking Through Thursday

I'm going to give Booking Through Thursday another try, although I reserve the right to skip any memes I don't like.

Even though it’s usually a mistake (grin) … do movies made out of books make you want to read the original?

I guess it depends on the quality of the movie and the nature of the story. I watched Lord of the Rings (or at least the first two) before I read the books, and the movies definitely motivated me to read...and read and read and read...Tolkien. I recall watching BBC versions of literary works as a child -- works that I wasn't yet ready to read but could at least enjoy on film -- and I've since read the books. Then again, I hated Oliver! as a child and still haven't read the book. And there was that very creepy version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe that put me off C.S. Lewis for a long time.

Again, it depends on the quality of the film and of the original work. In some cases, the film can take the place of the book without (for me at least) depriving the reader of much. Rather sadly, I have to admit to seeing the Twilight films because my husband was interested (seriously). Nothing about these films motivates me to read the books. On the other hand, I've seen the Harry Potter movies and haven't yet read the books, but that's more because I see the books as a large reading project and haven't felt like getting into them yet. I recognize real quality here and just haven't the time to commit to the stories, as I suspect they will be consuming once I pick them up.

I'm a pretty picky reader. I prefer to spend my reading time on books that actually interest me, and if a mediocre film is made from a mediocre book, the book is probably a waste of my time. When a decent film is made from a decent book, though, I certainly want to get my hands on the book.