Spring Term
Nov. 12th, 2011 08:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
slemslempikeI thoroughly enjoyed the GGBP-published Antonia Forest sequel, and I really hope that Sally Hayward writes another.
I had been worried that it would be a not-quite-successful and rather jarring attempt to copy AF's writing, but while there are definite bits of AF language and rhythm, it's just written as Sally Hayward. There are some things I disagree with - apart from thinking that the editor really should have imposed some sort of ration on emphatic italics, I really don't believe in Ginty's slide into badness.
I don't think even AF could have convincingly brought Ginty so low in the course of one book/term, and it's not carried off in Spring Term. Ginty's always been the Marlow most capable of self-deceit, but she also cares desperately what other people think of her, and I don't see her managing to escape the panopticon of family and school opinion to this extent. She's done unpleasant things before (I'm thinking of lying to Monica about deliberately doing badly in the diving competition), but always seemed to try to resolve not to do such a thing again. In Spring Term she has very little wavering, and is uncharacteristically blinkered about her misdeeds. The postscript by Sally Hayward is more sympathetic than the story itself. I think I would have liked a great deal more about Ginty's inner self, and what she was feeling about Patrick, rather than coming off rather simplistically petulant. And I was annoyed that Patrick's bad behaviour (or at the very least, blithely callous approach) seemed to be excused by Ginty's subsequent actions.
Despite this, as I said, I enjoyed it greatly. The staging of Cyrano de Bergerac was incredibly well done, I thought. (Though the thought crosses my mind after reading that perhaps "the school/form struggles through rehearsals that few people think will succeed" is a little too common in Kingscote!), as was Nick's singing and relationship with Dr Herrick. I did wonder about the non-believer thing - I had always read Nick's discomfort with people "believing properly" as being (largely) a Catholic/Protestant thing for her, and I never got the impression that she didn't believe in God. Early on in this though, she seemed to be claiming atheism for Peter and Giles as well as herself.
I saw a few posts talking about Spring Term before I got a copy. I'd like to go back and read them, but forgot to save any! If anyone were able to point me in the right direction I'd be very grateful indeed.
I had been worried that it would be a not-quite-successful and rather jarring attempt to copy AF's writing, but while there are definite bits of AF language and rhythm, it's just written as Sally Hayward. There are some things I disagree with - apart from thinking that the editor really should have imposed some sort of ration on emphatic italics, I really don't believe in Ginty's slide into badness.
I don't think even AF could have convincingly brought Ginty so low in the course of one book/term, and it's not carried off in Spring Term. Ginty's always been the Marlow most capable of self-deceit, but she also cares desperately what other people think of her, and I don't see her managing to escape the panopticon of family and school opinion to this extent. She's done unpleasant things before (I'm thinking of lying to Monica about deliberately doing badly in the diving competition), but always seemed to try to resolve not to do such a thing again. In Spring Term she has very little wavering, and is uncharacteristically blinkered about her misdeeds. The postscript by Sally Hayward is more sympathetic than the story itself. I think I would have liked a great deal more about Ginty's inner self, and what she was feeling about Patrick, rather than coming off rather simplistically petulant. And I was annoyed that Patrick's bad behaviour (or at the very least, blithely callous approach) seemed to be excused by Ginty's subsequent actions.
Despite this, as I said, I enjoyed it greatly. The staging of Cyrano de Bergerac was incredibly well done, I thought. (Though the thought crosses my mind after reading that perhaps "the school/form struggles through rehearsals that few people think will succeed" is a little too common in Kingscote!), as was Nick's singing and relationship with Dr Herrick. I did wonder about the non-believer thing - I had always read Nick's discomfort with people "believing properly" as being (largely) a Catholic/Protestant thing for her, and I never got the impression that she didn't believe in God. Early on in this though, she seemed to be claiming atheism for Peter and Giles as well as herself.
I saw a few posts talking about Spring Term before I got a copy. I'd like to go back and read them, but forgot to save any! If anyone were able to point me in the right direction I'd be very grateful indeed.
