Post by rallycairn on Jan 23, 2013 21:16:49 GMT 1
I would really enjoy reading everyone's thoughts on K.M. Peyton's work, that is, not just the discussions we'll have that are focused on the Reading Circle selections. Would comparing her protagonists be of interest?
--Spoilers assumed to be possible in any comments!--
Flambards and the Ruth Hollis books were my earliest Peyton reads, and I revisit those titles every few years, it seems. I like Ruth because she has struggles just getting a pony, then training and riding him. And her home life isn't all that wonderfully nurturing; she doesn't really seem to connect with her family, except in looking up to Ted for brotherly help. As she grows, readers get into her love life and marriage, and though it stinks that she gives up horses, I still always resonated with her struggles. And though she does manage to attract Patrick's interest, she had at least a passing interest in Jonathan that never went anywhere, so she wasn't like, e.g., Christina or the heroine of Snowfall in being blindingly attractive to all male comers, which I find makes her more appealing and human.
Christina in Flambards et al. Really, really sympathized with Christina being deposited in this violent, male-dominated, angry household in Flambards. And Will, Mark, Uncle Russell, and Dick are such well-drawn, contrasting characters. This series is so re-readable. But by the end of it, I don't like Christina as well as I do at first, because I think she is a bit self-absorbed from Flambards in Summer onward. But gosh, she ultimately engenders the love of every significant male in her life, so I guess that shouldn't be too surprising!
And I could go on and on about Flambards Divided and Dick, Christina, and Mark. Although Peyton does bring up some realistic hurdles that Dick and Christina would face, in having a cross-class marriage, the book is still a character assassination of Dick. (Downton Abbey hasn't made Tom Branson a ridiculous figure, for comparison to another series set at exactly the same time). And Mark as portrayed in Divided -- well, maybe the war softened him, but I also am one of the believers that Peyton was influenced by Mark as written and portrayed in the TV series. The Mark of the TV series had some soft spots, though rarely seen, including some nice moments with Will that weren't in the books, plus his need to be included in the wedding plans for Will and Christina. But the Mark of the earlier books wasn't someone I'd want Christina to end up with, and I'd rather she'd stayed with Dick.
And Dick, although I totally believe he would continue to be a dedicated worker, I never saw any sense in the first three books that he was someone who would totally eschew pleasure and never do anything but farm, farm, farm. In the first book, he got so much enjoyment out of working with horses, and in riding well, and in anticipating the hunt's movements so he could get the horses to checks -- I don't think the Dick who had those skills and eked that much pleasure out of a difficult life would've been so adamant that he could never take pleasure in much of anything, or ride out to hunt, etc. once he was grown and in better circumstances. Or that the Dick of the first books would ever have sold Pheasant, however put out he might've been with Christina.
Thoughts on these or other Peyton characters? What about the three in Darkling, our heroine Jenny and the jockey, Goddard, and the artist, Straw? What about the Swallow books, or any others?
--Spoilers assumed to be possible in any comments!--
Flambards and the Ruth Hollis books were my earliest Peyton reads, and I revisit those titles every few years, it seems. I like Ruth because she has struggles just getting a pony, then training and riding him. And her home life isn't all that wonderfully nurturing; she doesn't really seem to connect with her family, except in looking up to Ted for brotherly help. As she grows, readers get into her love life and marriage, and though it stinks that she gives up horses, I still always resonated with her struggles. And though she does manage to attract Patrick's interest, she had at least a passing interest in Jonathan that never went anywhere, so she wasn't like, e.g., Christina or the heroine of Snowfall in being blindingly attractive to all male comers, which I find makes her more appealing and human.
Christina in Flambards et al. Really, really sympathized with Christina being deposited in this violent, male-dominated, angry household in Flambards. And Will, Mark, Uncle Russell, and Dick are such well-drawn, contrasting characters. This series is so re-readable. But by the end of it, I don't like Christina as well as I do at first, because I think she is a bit self-absorbed from Flambards in Summer onward. But gosh, she ultimately engenders the love of every significant male in her life, so I guess that shouldn't be too surprising!
And I could go on and on about Flambards Divided and Dick, Christina, and Mark. Although Peyton does bring up some realistic hurdles that Dick and Christina would face, in having a cross-class marriage, the book is still a character assassination of Dick. (Downton Abbey hasn't made Tom Branson a ridiculous figure, for comparison to another series set at exactly the same time). And Mark as portrayed in Divided -- well, maybe the war softened him, but I also am one of the believers that Peyton was influenced by Mark as written and portrayed in the TV series. The Mark of the TV series had some soft spots, though rarely seen, including some nice moments with Will that weren't in the books, plus his need to be included in the wedding plans for Will and Christina. But the Mark of the earlier books wasn't someone I'd want Christina to end up with, and I'd rather she'd stayed with Dick.
And Dick, although I totally believe he would continue to be a dedicated worker, I never saw any sense in the first three books that he was someone who would totally eschew pleasure and never do anything but farm, farm, farm. In the first book, he got so much enjoyment out of working with horses, and in riding well, and in anticipating the hunt's movements so he could get the horses to checks -- I don't think the Dick who had those skills and eked that much pleasure out of a difficult life would've been so adamant that he could never take pleasure in much of anything, or ride out to hunt, etc. once he was grown and in better circumstances. Or that the Dick of the first books would ever have sold Pheasant, however put out he might've been with Christina.
Thoughts on these or other Peyton characters? What about the three in Darkling, our heroine Jenny and the jockey, Goddard, and the artist, Straw? What about the Swallow books, or any others?
