My reason

http://www.tam-lin.org/front.html

There are reasons for everything I think, some reasons might be good, some might be not as good as some might be just as fucked up as...

Tam Lin, the reason for so much in my life.

(http://www.tam-lin.org/tamlin1.html ; other versions for those who wants to check both musical and poems)

A scottish ballad, as beautiful as anything. If you listen to any of any of the musical adaptions of it you will be in awe as it will touch your depest.

It's hard to say exactly what it is that makes it so beautiful.

My first encounter with the ballad when I read the book "Tam Lin" by Pamela Dean, which is not an especially great book, it's very american, as the author is paid by how much she writes, not how good it is. But it was the book who made me realize I really want to study English, it was the book who got me to appreciate fantasy-litterature in a different way, it proved that you don't have to write books like The Lord of The Rings to be able to call them fantasy.
The way I can relate to the main character is probably the reason why I like it so much.
Usually when someone says he or she can relate to the main character (or some other character in a book) it's usually when it comes to something "cooler", like how your parents don't understand you or your teachers or friends, how you do not fit into society or something, but this girl, what she worries about is, school, and not her friends and teachers (not so much), but what to study, to study litterature, to study classics..?
And that is how my life has been the past year...
What to study? What to research? Do I want to be a double profferssor? Do I want to study more film science or English? Do I want to study in the US? When am I going to Ireland?
All those questions just floating around and everyone around me says to stop bothering, but, that's hard. I'm used to always know what will happen, what year I will be studying what, syllabus that are exact for years to follow, and now... I have to make this all by my self, to decide, what do I think is the funniest thing to study? Where to study? Do I wanna move away? How will I be able to cope being so far away from family? Will I be able to sort my finances...
Just more and more questions, and those questions can't be answerd till I am there, till I have taken the decision that takes me there.

Well, maybe sometimes just a book, or a song, or something else who touches you are what will show you the way, no matter how stupid it looks to everyone else, if it matters to you, then it has to be important.

See you again on Monday, book fair this weekend, and I hope all of you will make a great decision this weekend! :)

3rd March

Tam Lin - Pamela Dean

The book started out very well, but then was a disappointment. The story is about Janet, who starts college in her hometown in Minnesota. She's a English Major who will share the room with two unknown girls, and she is worried they won't get along, but they do and they are going trough the ups and downs of college and college boyfriends together, the drama is not on high school level but there is some in the begining but the characters are quickly faling into their characters.

First point of disappointment is the lack of fantasy for the first 300 or so pages in a fantasy novel, not until the last few chapters there are something unnatural in the picture. Also, those 300 pages seem to be all about the characters developing, but not growing, you just get to know new things about them, but they are still the same.

Very flat in that sort of way.

The book is based upon the old scottish ballad Tam Lin (which is printed in the end of the book), and what is really a downside to the whole book is that almost nothing of the ballad comes to show until the last two or three chapters and that was very devestating, as you are looking forward to find the story and the ballad entangeld troughout the whole story. Unfortunaltey there are not many signs of the ballad in the text, but for the english litterature interested there are a lot of different poems quoted and a lot of different quotes. Also it feels like you need to have some sort of knouwing about least some of the english (and greek) big poets and literary works (even if they get very well explained in the book too).

The books is not a poorly written book, Pamela Dean is a very vivid writer, but it seems like she want to tell to much about the people, to make them as complex as she can and forgets about the story (I haven't read any other of her books, but I will and see if this is something common in her way of writing).

This makes it feel like she had to come up with an ending about 2/3 in the book as things seem to be more "jumpy" and like there are no real ending to things, as she can't write such an enormous amount of pages.

But there was a nice twist to the end and the very end pleased me much even thought the lack of fantasy in the first 300-350 pages, having an open mind about whats fantas and whats "just" fiction and remember after all it is a fantasy book and not just a fiction book, and things can be easier to comprehend. The fact Janet went out with Nick for so long, even though you knew she was going to date someone else at the end (as it was hinted at the back of the book), was accorinf to me both annoying and quite alright so that it didn't turn out to a big romance between those two and no one else could have space. The focaliser is definatley Janet, but her friends are really taking up space in the book too.

Beeing just about 20 myself I think that it was easier to relate to Janet, also I think those who went to college in the beginning of the 70's could recognize themselves in the book, in one or another way. But I think that (even if you went to college once) that if you read it at 30 or 50 you will have different experience than a 20 year old or someone experience the era in the book. I would definatley say the implied reader of this book is either younger girls or people in their 40's who has a college degree, and will regognize themselves in the feeling of the book. That means the implied reader would be quite well educated but still nostalgic, and not to whealthy, most probably (if older) a mother and having a family. Also I would suggest that the one reading this novel has a big interest (as said earlier) in litterature of the old english (and greek) authors, and maybe have a degree in that or possibly works as an english teacher, or something similar, but not a high educated work, more of a simpler one.

The fantasy found in the book I would say is intrusive fantasy as that is desribed as "something fantasic entering our familiar world" and the best evidence for that is when Thomas explains to Janet about the ritual every 7th year with the classics students and their head teacher, and that Robin and Nick actually knew Shakespear (I thought that was a quite interesting twist, and would loved to have that more elaborated a lot earlier in the end of the novel). And also you can find hints of estranged fantasy in Robin and Nick, as that is explaind as fantasic things seem normal and the the opposite, and as they are "regular" classics/theather majors they arenot seen as fantastic, but when you in the end of the novel will find out they have know Shakespear, the "regular" guys seems fantastic instead, but the main sort of fantasy is the intrusive (but not found until the very end). The only not regular thing in the first parts of the book are the story about the Thompson ghost, but that is during the wholw novel just talk and insinuations whether she is real or not.

Summary

The book might not be the best of fantasy novels, but are recommended as light reading if you want an "non-fantasy" fantasy book. Also it don't seem to fit everyone, I think you have to like somewhat romantic fantasy novels to be able to dig trough all the boyfriend stuff, and you definatley have to be interested in English authors as there are a lot of poetry and play quotes from classical works like Keats and Shakespear, but they are (I think) very good at wanting you to want to learn a lot about english litterature and check up on the poems and get your own opinion on them (unless you already have).

Is as said recommended if you want something easy to read (even if its 400+ pages it don't take that long time to read trough it) and are maybe not that hard on it having to be fantasy.

Also, if you read it, take light on the mid-part as it's not the best, put down more attention on the end and the beginning.