Her Fearful Symmetry
This book looks a little weird. I picked it up because it was fifty percent off hardcover plus my ten percent as a Barnes and Nobles membership. I figured it would be a good read. There was a bunch of hype over The Time Traveler’s Wife, but I’ve yet to read that.
It’s odd that we start with a Beatles quote. I flipped through the book and saw that a title was named after a Beatles song too. I wonder how they inspire the story…
Part One
In which Elspeth dies.
It took me a few chapters to get into this book. Everything seemed hazy in the first few chapters. Here, we seem to get the full picture. We know Edie and Elspeth parted on bad terms, and Jack seems to be involved. We know the twins will spend a year in London, but they have to wait another year before they can go.
We also know Robert loved Elspeth very much, and will surely get involved with the twins somehow with they arrive. Then there is Martin and Marijke who lived upstairs from Robert. Hrm. The letter from the law firm said Robert lived downstairs from Elspeth. Did she move in with Robert and give the apartment to Martin and Marijke? Did Robert move in with her, the lower apartment remain empty with just his particulars, and Martin and Marijke live the next floor up? Or did neither happen and we’re talking about a three story building? Haha! Does any of this matter? I guess we’ll find out when we get to London.
If Martin is still living in the apartment, that’s going to be interesting.
Martin is an odd one, I’ll give you that. I feel sad for him. Why did Marijke leave? It has to have something to do with Elspeth’s death. That’s why I think they might have been living in her apartment and she was down living with Robert. Not 100% positive though.
Robert is a tortured soul. I think he was even before Elspeth died. That seems to be his nature. This story has certainly caught my interest.
This story is beautifully written. We’re just seeing snapshots. The essence of everything that happens. I like this very much. It’s revealing the plot piece by piece. The image of a ghost of a tree–a tree’s shadow–is amazing. It puts a whole new perspective on ghosts … something that inspires me.
Well … Elspeth makes a spunky ghost. Totally a turn I didn’t see coming. Maybe I should have read more of the book jacket. Cool. I like ghost stories, and this one seems different. I guess the girls ARE ingenues in a “horror” story … hasn’t proved to be horrifying yet. The Time Travelers Wife didn’t look scary … more romantic. Hrm. I’m up for anything …
Wow.
Part Two
How dull it would seem to be a ghost. Living life through others. I wouldn’t want that. I wonder where this story is going. So Edie stole Elspeth’s guy. So what. Now the Beastiaries and herb notebooks Valentina knocked over … is that a clue? Are we getting into magic? I was thinking this was straight fiction. Hrm. I really knew nothing about this book going in. Sometimes it’s better that way.
Well, the lawyer is keeping a secret. Big surprise there.
C’mon Robert. Don’t be such a dunderhead. Talk to them!
Julia and Martin? Valentina and Robert? I don’t know about this …
It’s Robert that’s following you guys. Oh the twins are so silly. I’m still wondering how far this story is going to go. It’s interesting so far … but nothing much has happened.
G’awe kitty!
Valentina fell in love with Robert … but something tells me that love will be unrequited. I think Robert would if he wasn’t feeling so broken up by Elspeth. And Elspeth is still around. He “knows” and I’m sure he’ll discuss it with Valentina at some point. No. Unless Elspeth points him in Valentina’s direction, I don’t think the two will end up together.
Okay, this is depressing. Something needs to happen post haste!
Alright, so I was wrong about the unrequited love, but that’s okay. At least it has started, but I would appreciate it if the story picked up the pace a bit. What’s the point of Elspeth being a ghost if she isn’t doing anything much. I’m not sure where we’re going. Something needs to happen …
I know those feelings of things being the same, but different. That kind of describes some of the friendship I have with Rhiannon, but it also speaks to the relationship I have with my parents. They’ve evolved over the years … the same, but different. I guess my siblings are included in that assessment. Haha! Finally, things are starting to move a little!
That’s so sad. Looks like I DID have it right. However, there is still a whole third of the book left. Will Elspeth be a jilted lover? Will Julia be jealous? There’s potential for Julia to be used by Elspeth to get at Valentina and Robert. I wonder. I wonder. What about Martin? Has Julia really gone to far with that? There’s so much that could happen in the conclusion of this book. *ZooM*
Part Three
Oh you little witch Ms. Niffenegger! How dare you end a chapter like that. And I’ve peaked! The next chapter doesn’t tell the story! You’re going to make me read on. Tricky! Tricky, tricky, trickster!
She’s not going to do what I THINK she’s going to do … is she? Elspeth is going to possess Valentina? This could just be me jumping to conclusions. Haha!
Now that IS a dumb idea, Valentina. I thought you were the smarter of the twins … I guess you’re just as messed up as everyone else in this story.
How did we know this was going to happen? *Sigh* Poor Little Kitten of Death.
The Funeral of the Little Kitten of Death
Now that doesn’t make sense. All of a sudden Robert says Elspeth’s ghost doesn’t feel or have compassion. I believe Elspeth was screaming “I’m so, so sorry!” a couple times when trying to put the kitten back in it’s body. I know Robert didn’t see that, and we didn’t see much of his conversations with Elspeth, but what we did see was all positive stuff. They shared memories and such. Nope. Don’t make stuff up Ms. Niffenegger … unless you plan to prove this to us.
Hrm. Well, now I’m a little suspect of Elspeth’s motives, but they’re still coming a bit out of nowhere. Unless Elspeth is “losing her senses” … she did think she was losing something earlier in the story when she wasn’t trying to make intelligent communication, and that would fit Robert’s suspicions. So, if she does end up possessing Valentina in order to get the feelings of having a body and being human again … and to be with Robert, then I’m not sure if she’s realizing what she is doing.
If she does realize it, then she’s doing a damned good job of keeping it secret … even from the reader … which is not a good thing in my opinion. It’s left field-ish, and seems like a separation from the reality of the book.
And how does Martin fit into the picture?
This chapter only raises more questions. What are we building to? Only eighty pages to wrap this up here. This was vaguely hinted at once or twice in the book … about leaving the twins to Robert, and the fact that she treats them like her children. I’m still not sure how this is all going to come together yet though.
Indeed. It IS time for something to happen!
I SO thought Robert was going to get caught. There is still a chance though. He has to bring the body upstairs. Combing her hair by the way … creepy.
Alright, so even Robert suspected something like this. I had the thought way earlier in the book. Was this supposed to be a surprise? If so, Ms. Niffenegger left WAY too many overt clues, and managed to confuse me in a bad way, lol. I thought Martin was going to play a more important role in the story. I guess there is a few chapters left, but seeing the next chapter’s title leads me to think the story is just about over.
Yep, things seem pretty final.
In the end I am satisfied with the story, more or less. I think because I figured out the end so far in advance I was expecting a different kind of story. I kept waiting for the action, when this wasn’t a story of action. I was waiting for high intensity drama, and that wasn’t in any way part of this story. It was still a great book, I just didn’t get it until the end.
Tags: Books, Genre: Fiction
Thoughts on Books | Joey | 
19 December 2009 2:30 PM
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