regshoe: Close-up of a grey heron, its beak open as if laughing (Heron 2)
regshoe ([personal profile] regshoe) wrote2021-10-09 05:59 pm

Flight of the Heron read-along: Part I chapters 3-4

I have just finished reading a Mary Renault novel and feel, predictably, absolutely awful about it. Time to distract myself with some Jacobites!

Next week we'll finish Part I with chapters 5 and 6.
luzula: a Luzula pilosa, or hairy wood-rush (Default)

[personal profile] luzula 2021-10-09 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
His smile went up a little at the corner. A sparkle came into Ewen Cameron’s eyes.

Awww, yes, that bit is lovely. <3

I rather like Alison's description of Prince Charles as 'the fairy prince' (now there's an AU—Charles as John Uskglass conquering Scotland and England with his fairy army...!

Oh, hmm, that is an interesting AU possibility...
hyarrowen: (Action Hero)

[personal profile] hyarrowen 2021-10-10 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
I too love the bit where Keith and Ewen smile at each other. I think Keith challenges Ewen in a way that he's not used to; his foster-brothers and tenants are utterly devoted to him, Aunt Margaret and the rest of the family love him dearly and look after him and he's close to the centre of their world. Keith is an annoyance and unpredictable and he's all prickles - and he's an equal in a way that the others are not.

I like the adroit way that DKB changes POVs - not something you see much of in fanfic but it happens very naturally here. Also her long, long sentences. Radio was just getting going when FotH was published and there were far fewer sources of entertainment than even ten years later.

The threads have always confused me too. Prisoner and captor, perhaps, turn and turn about? Or in the sense of spun threads that you twist together to get a stronger, single yarn? Baffled.
hyarrowen: (Action Hero)

[personal profile] hyarrowen 2021-10-10 09:21 am (UTC)(link)
It's such a pity we can't ask her! Everyone seems both confused and intrigued by it. Maybe she left it quite deliberately ambiguous, a la Balrog wings.
luzula: a Luzula pilosa, or hairy wood-rush (Default)

[personal profile] luzula 2021-10-10 10:34 am (UTC)(link)
I think Keith challenges Ewen in a way that he's not used to; his foster-brothers and tenants are utterly devoted to him, Aunt Margaret and the rest of the family love him dearly and look after him and he's close to the centre of their world. Keith is an annoyance and unpredictable and he's all prickles - and he's an equal in a way that the others are not.

Yes! How insightful--I do think you're right.
cahn: (Default)

[personal profile] cahn 2021-10-13 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
- and he's an equal in a way that the others are not.

Oh, yeah, that makes a lot of sense! I can see how that would be really attractive to Ewen :D
impala_chick: (Default)

[personal profile] impala_chick 2021-10-14 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
to have lived alongside Angus all his life and been witness to multiple predictions which have 'fulfilled themselves in an extraordinary way' and still not believe in the second sight.
Yes, I kept thinking Angus must have said something that never came true.

The scene where Keith and Ewen walk down towards the loch together after the Lachlan disaster is just lovely.
I agree!!