Last night I read The Gathering. At first it kind of freaked me out, I think because of the atmospheric use of the stench of the abbatoir (can't spell that either). Abbatoirs are generally built away from society because people feel uneasy about having something made for killing things near their homes, so I think it's freaky that there would be one near a school. Especially one that's still in use. Actually, the school I went to was originally built to be an abbatoir. It was never used though. The plans fell through when they were building it, so it got turned into a school. An interesting transformation.
Kaede
I did like the book, though I don't think I'll read it again. Throughout the novel, I was uneasy about Nat's dog, The Tod, because he was such a wonderful happy ball of light within such a dark atmosphere. I was tense whilst reading because I really didn't want anything to happen to him, and when it did, I burst into tears. I'm not particularly affected by violence between humans in novels, but when people are senselessly cruel to an animal, it makes me sick. I find it worse than violence between humans. On that note, I really liked IC's comment on how when people are acting crazy, people say that they're acting like an animal, when in actual fact they're acting just like a human.
This book really made me think, especially about the whole "power corrupts" concept, and the trust many of us place unthinkingly into the hands of supposedly reliable figures of authority. I also like the idea that within every one of us there resides a little piece of darkness, which, if we let it, could ruin us.
My response to The Gathering was much the same as yours, Kaede. I read it several years ago now and, though I thought it was a very good book, I haven't returned to it since. It was one of those novels that gave me an awful uneasy feeling the whole time I was reading it - there was such a strong sense of wrongness and bad things being about to happen throughout. I just knew something was going to happen to the Tod, but, even when it did, I was so shocked and upset. I agree that I tend to be much more affected by violence towards animals in books than towards humans - plus I was about thirteen at the time and had two beloved dogs, so I was probably even more jarred by it than I would be today.
Firefall
I think that was probably the intended effect of the book - its aim is to shock and to disturb, rather than to be comforting and happy, and I think it achieved that very well. The only problem is that that makes it one of those books you admire, but never have a great desire to reread. (Unless you're someone who reads to be unnerved and disturbed, but I turn to fiction for comfort and escapism more than anything else.)
I agree with you, Firefall. I generally turn to books to get away from life, to go somewhere different for a while. And although The Gathering certainly took me somewhere different, the uneasiness of the journey isn't something I want to experience again.
Kaede
I'm with you both in reading books to get away from reality for a while, so I tend to reread books that take me to a better place as well. I think that's one reason I love the Legendsong so much - it's a flawed world, but it's got mystery and magic and beauty that our world will never have! (Though of course our world has some of these things as well!)
IC talked about The Gathering at Convergence in 2007, and she said that when she wrote The Gathering, she was actually living in an old caravan near the abbatoir in Geelong, and you really could smell the abbatoir when the wind was from the wrong direction. She said it was more than just the smell of things dying – the smell of death, fear, pain.Anyway, last night I read The Gathering. At first it kind of freaked me out, I think because of the atmospheric use of the stench of the abbatoir (can't spell that either). Abbatoirs are generally built away from society because people feel uneasy about having something made for killing things near their homes, so I think it's freaky that there would be one near a school.
Kaede
Your discussion made me realise that if I'd read Alyzon Whitestarr and The Gathering in the opposite order, I would have had a very different reaction to them both. Reading them in the order I did, Alyzon Whitestarr felt like a more subdued version of The Gathering, less dark, and more accessible. I still hate what happened to the Tod, and although I have reread The Gathering once or twice, I don't like to reread that part (even knowing it's coming, it's still shocking and horrific). I find violence against animals to be the hardest to bear as well, and I agree that people do much worse things than animals. Zieria
It's interesting so many people saying they're more affected by cruelty to animals in books than humans. I think for a long time writers of children's books have explored death and abuse through stories about animals, assuming it will be less traumatic. Bambi by Felix Salten, for instance. Forget Disney, this is hardcore violence. Black Beauty is another obvious example - I am never again reading that one. Watership Down is less traumatic than the last two, but there is still death, torture and tyranny. And who hasn't cried over Charlotte's Web?
Lol
I don't find cruelty to animals more traumatic than cruelty to people in books, but I am always aware that they're more vulnerable, more likely to be sacrificed to make a point or serve the plot than a human character would be.
I really hope this doesn't sound callous, but I think I find cruelty to animals harder to bear than violence between humans in real life, as well as in works of fiction. Don't get me wrong, I'm still troubled greatly by the things people will do to each other, but when you turn on the news, quite often the first few items are extremely negative - wars, murders, assaults - all between people. Perhaps I've become desensitised to that kind of violence. As IC said in The Gathering, animals don't hurt each other or people "just to see what happens". I know many human conflicts aren't related to this, but they all still help in the desensitising process.
Kaede
The Gathering is one of my favourite IC books because it shows that young people can have a mind of thier own and don't have to follow the crowd and do thing just because thats what everyone else is doing. I find any kind of cruelty whether human or animal horrific. Thats probably one reason that I avoid watching the news or reading newspapers.
deb
Isobelle told an interesting story about writing that scene of the Gathering at Camberwell earlier this year. After she wrote it she burst into tears. When her brother asked her what was wrong she told him "I killed the dog" He then asked if she had run over a dog. So it affected her in much teh same way it affects us. But I think it was a scene that had to be written.
I definately think it's a vital scene in the overall flow of the book, despite my dislike of it. In my opinion, the novel's ability to scare and disturb, yet still keep me reading, tells that it's a good book, just not one that'll I read when in need of comfort :P
Kaede
What order would you suggest I read Alyzon Whitestar and The Gathering in then, Zier?
cateyes
It's interesting you'd compare Alyzon Whitestarr and The Gathering, Zier, because they're two of IC's books I always closely associate with one another, mainly because of that unsettling atmosphere I find in both. I think I'd agree that AW feels like a less dark - I might even say less macabre - and more accessible work, although, just personally, in a lot of ways I find it harder to return to than The Gathering.Your discussion made me realise that if I'd read Alyzon Whitestarr and The Gathering in the opposite order, I would have had a very different reaction to them both. Reading them in the order I did, Alyzon Whitestarr felt like a more subdued version of The Gathering, less dark, and more accessible.
Zier
I think it's because I've always found something incredibly disturbing in the idea of a sickness of the soul, something that taints the spirit in a way the tainted person can't reverse or really do anything about. I suppose something about that lack of control over one's own inner being strikes me as eerie, in a more subtle way than the physical horrors of The Gathering. But it has been a while since I've read either book, so perhaps I'm basing all this on stale impressions.
And Zier - yes, I love books/series like The Legendsong (and Obernewtyn too, of course), which manage to provide escapism and comfort while also questioning the world and asking what I feel are important and fairly philosophical questions. It's why fantasy is my favourite genre - I find it provides that combination of escapism and philosophy more than other genres, or at least in the way I look for. ^_^ Firefall
I think I agree with you guys - when I read The Gathering back in high school I was really creeped out. It was such a dark and disturbing setting and I always find myself much more affected by books than a movie that would do a similar thing becuase it seems too calculated to scare in movies...
laurenm_89
That said, I actually found the book strangely uplifting because, in spite of (or maybe because of) the darkness that surrounded those kids, they were able to band together and form really tight bonds with each other to deal with it. I actually have reread The Gathering about three or four times now...but maybe I am just weird... ~:|
I am with you guys on the Legendsong Trilogy though - great source of escapism!! That is my favourite IC series by far! I cannot wait until she writes Darkbane already :roll:
I've never read The Gathering (I think it's one of the few IC books I haven't read, aside from the Little Fur series), so please take this into account when you read my response to what everyone's been saying here.
dolorosa
Laurenm, I can't agree with you that the Legendsong books are escapist - in my opinion, they are Isobelle's clearest, most direct articulation of what she thinks is wrong with the world and what she thinks needs to be done to fix it. All the 'segue' sections show little vignettes of various people who recognise and/or suffer from what Isobelle views as the pain and disharmony in our world. The motif of the Unykorn, sometimes portrayed as a dying horse or a lost unicorn in the sections of the book set in our world, is meant to be a metaphor for how much we in our world have lost our way, and the books argue that until we find our Unykorns (ie our sources of wonder and imagination) the world will continue to be a very disharmonious place.
The Legendsong books are my favourite books of Isobelle's, but because they get straight to the heart of things, not because they're escapist. Isobelle is one of the best authors at using very direct metaphors and allusions to get her themes and messages across (I have a few problems with her themes in any case, but this is not the place to bring these problems up). She uses fantasy settings and stories to get straight to the heart of things (this is something Sophie Masson once talked about in relation to folk tales and fantasy stories).
I agree with that. However I find them a little simplistic in their attitude towards good and evil, light and dark. Of all her books I think the Obernewtyn Chronicles simplifies things least, which is one of the reasons I like them best. Don't get me wrong, I love Legendsong - I'm invested in the world and the characters - but at times it just seems a bit... preachy. LolLaurenm, I can't agree with you that the Legendsong books are escapist - in my opinion, they are Isobelle's clearest, most direct articulation of what she thinks is wrong with the world and what she thinks needs to be done to fix it.
dolorosa
Oh! 8-| I am not at all denying that they deal with real issues through a different setting - I guess I was just talking about being emerged in the characters and their lives....I definately do love the political commentary and the bits of philosophy throughout it though - those things definately enrich the text. I guess it is just easier to face the issues IC raises in this way rather than sitting in front of the news and getting really depressed because Glynn especially seems to have this crazy abillity to maintain hope even when things are really bleak.
laurenm_89
"All I can really contribute at this stage is to second Arien's idea of the unperceived evil taking over the worldin Alyzon Whitestarr being echoed in the Legendsong - it seems in both "our" world and Keltor this blackness is largely unnoticed although there are a select few who are aware and are banning together to stand against it. I guess in Keltor, the blackness is more concrete than in the "real world" as there are definite bodies that are identified e.g. the draakira who are the agents of evil, as compared to the real world where IC doesn't often identify bodies/organisations (as much as she does in the Obernewtyn Chronicles e.g. the "govamen" or whatever it is called) so much as the indifference or bleak hopelessness in certain characters.
laurenm_89
I think though that the guy who works for that record company and buys Ember's lyrics is someone worth exploring (I can't remember his name) - I seem to recall Glynn seeing flashes of the Chaos spirit in his eyes or something which is a more concrete manifestation of evil infiltrating earth...but there I go focusing on Legendsong again... ::)"
