the slightly feverish WTF Downton Abbey post

I don't think I have a lot of Downton Abbey viewers on my flist, but it doesn't matter; I just have to do the OMG What Were They Thinking flail for a bit, and then I'll move on. For L. and anyone else who's seen the first season but not the second, I really liked the first season, despite some eye-rollery, but the eyes are just spinning in their sockets by now. If you get hold of the second season for free, and have people to watch it with and snark, then by all means do.

So, yeah, we watched the double episode last night that takes us nearly to the end of the season (only the Christmas special to go), and I think ALL the predictions we made last time came true, and they weren't exactly wildly original bits of plot. And there were a lot of "No Don't Do It" and "I Can't Believe They Did That" noises going on during the viewing, and I don't think we were supposed to be laughing as much as we did.

And the rest is spoilers. ( Read more... )

Maggie Smith is still awesome, though. I think she must have veto power over her lines in the otherwise sadly languishing scripts.

Mirror Dance: Structural Reflections

Okay, I'm going to do this now, so I don't keep thinking about it.

I'm not sure how many readings of Mirror Dance it took me to notice its structure; certainly the first time around I just wanted to know what happened next, and the second time I wanted to read it in emotional and narrative context, but finally I did begin to realize that the book has a shape. It is not, upon examination, a completely symmetrical shape, but it does contain significant internal echoes and reflections. In other words, simplistically speaking, the book is a mirror.

When we look in a mirror, we see ourselves, backwards. What's getting reflected in Mirror Dance is Mark's identity. (And to some extent, Miles's, but it's a very Mark-dominated book. I did a color chart by chapter of point-of-view, and Mark's color outweighs Miles's, significantly and not terribly symmetrically, just as Mark himself outweighs... well.) In terms of plot and character arcs, the growth of Mark's identity is pretty obvious, although you have to read closely to see how cleverly it's done. ( Spoilers henceforward )

I don't insist on the mirror interpretation, and I'm not sure if any of it was created on purpose; the writing instinct is a marvelous thing, however. Plot arcs are arcs for a reason, because our minds like symmetry; character arcs are seldom as tidy. Mark is definitely not tidy. He is, however, an extraordinary chance to play with viewpoint and self-definition and the reflection of identity; I love him and I love this book more each time I read it.

Must eat dinner now, and will edit as necessary later!
*posts*