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regshoeI'm afraid real life is being stressful at the moment and I'm feeling a bit frazzled, so no comment from me today—but here's the post, so others can start on the discussion. :)
Next week we'll read chapter 7, the final chapter of Part IV.
Next week we'll read chapter 7, the final chapter of Part IV.
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Date: Dec. 11th, 2021 07:06 pm (UTC)That he had personally attracted the English soldier would never have occurred to him. [...] ...this young man, to whom he had been so unusually attracted... What can I even say to this??
This section was great! And I know I say this on every post, but poor Keith! The guy just can't catch a break. My heart sank as Sir Everard started talking, I could sense what was coming... But of course it provides more delicious opportunities for Keith to pick Ewen over his career. :D
The minor characters continue to be a delight - I loved 'the exquisite Captain Ferrers' (who felt like he's come out of a Heyer novel), and Albemarle's reminiscences about Lady Stowe, and Sir Everard Faulkner sounds very cosmopolitan. (The description made me think he might have been a real person, but when I googled I only got results for FotH?)
Now that I've seen more of Captain Greening, I agree with the previous discussion that all the descriptions of him as 'womanish' are very uncomfortable. All the other minor characters have their own reasons for doing what they do, but Greening seems to be more of a plot device to get Ewen to accidentally confess. There's no depth to him, so he just sort of defaults to an unpleasant stereotype.
Speaking of evil minor characters, Major Guthrie! I'll never be able to read the scene where Keith tells him everything again, knowing what destruction he manages to cause with the information. Please tell me someone gets to punch him in the face before the end, I'd find that very cathartic.
I can't wait for Keith and Ewen's meeting next week. But if I've counted right, this will be the last...? Noooo!
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Date: Dec. 11th, 2021 08:39 pm (UTC)Sir Everard Faulkner is a real person, but the reason you can't find him is because Broster misspelled his name--it's supposed to be Fawkener. Or maybe her version is a variation that also exists, I don't know.
No one has yet written fic where Guthrie gets his comeuppance! The field is wide open. : D
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Date: Dec. 12th, 2021 12:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Dec. 13th, 2021 10:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Dec. 12th, 2021 04:28 am (UTC)We're possibly past the point where problems would be solved by murdering the shit out of Guthrie? But nevertheless, I propose this solution: murder the shit out of Guthrie.
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Date: Dec. 12th, 2021 04:36 am (UTC)You speak truth! <3
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Date: Dec. 11th, 2021 09:31 pm (UTC)I think DKB is going for 'charmingly modest' here, but honestly Ewen is coming across as a bit oblivious to me. Someone like you, Ewen are you so very accustomed to this that you can't recognise it in an opponent? :/
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Date: Dec. 11th, 2021 09:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Dec. 11th, 2021 10:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Dec. 13th, 2021 05:37 pm (UTC)Broster's minor characters are one of the most consistently enjoyable features of all her books, and we do get some good ones here. :D
What can I even say to this??
:D It's such an unexpected, unaccountable thing... what are the reasons in matters of the heart?... Seriously, nice spot that parallel. Aargh.
I can't wait for Keith and Ewen's meeting next week. But if I've counted right, this will be the last...? Noooo!
They're counting too! We shall have to see...
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Date: Dec. 11th, 2021 08:14 pm (UTC)(And ugh, re Greening: there are so many adjective choices to quickly describe the stereotypically nasty character, and yet we get stuck with womanish repeatedly anyway. I realize that's been said a lot already, I just really needed that out of my system, lol. Other than that I really like the writing!)
I love how Keith decides that he will be more prudent with his actions, and then promptly nearly ruins his career all over again (he was more polite the second time around, at least!) It would be out of character for him to do anything else about the issue of his testimony, of course, but I am still very amused.
And I hope you get an IRL break very soon! <3<3
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Date: Dec. 11th, 2021 09:46 pm (UTC)Ofc he immediately burns up his honorable Highlander bona fides by trying to interest Ewen in that "How about you... fall asleep again?" scheme. I guess the desire to find Lochiel has overwhelmed everything else for him.
And yes, Keith's near-instantaneous switcheroo from "I'm going to be prudent about my career from now on!" to "guess I'm going to burn my career to ashes for Ewen" is beautiful. He is MORE prudent that time, but still.
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Date: Dec. 12th, 2021 04:47 am (UTC)Vs V pna whzc gb gur guveq abiry naq gur zna jub frpergyl orgenlrq Nepuvr Pnzreba... Gur gbezrag Znvgynaq tbrf guebhtu vagreanyyl, rira nf ur ergnvarq uvf tbbq anzr nzbat Wnpbovgrf, vf rffragvnyyl gur irel qrny gung Ybhqbha vf bssrevat gb Rjra urer: xabj lbhefrys n genvgbe, juvyr ergnvavat lbhe tbbq anzr. Naq bs pbhefr jura Rjra pbzrf gb haqrefgnaq jung Znvgynaq unf qbar -- naq rira gung ur qvq vg sbe cevapvcyrq ernfbaf, juvpu fubhyq unir orra va uvf snibhe! -- Rjra pna oneryl pbzceruraq ubj Znvgynaq pbhyq unir oebhtug uvzfrys gb qb vg...
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Date: Dec. 13th, 2021 05:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Dec. 13th, 2021 05:45 pm (UTC)Keith just knows what he has to do whenever Ewen is involved, it seems—perhaps Ewen just always brings out the best in him. :)
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Date: Dec. 11th, 2021 08:58 pm (UTC)And we talked last time about how he still doesn't fully realize his feelings, and once he's removed from Ewen it's all a mystery to him once again. But actually he doesn't completely let go of it this time. Saving Ewen Cameron’s life he did not for an instant regret; he would have done the same again without a moment’s hesitation, nor did he regret his return to the shieling in the guise of the Good Samaritan; but to have dashed in that manner back to Fort Augustus while carrying a despatch, still more to have thrust himself into Lord Loudoun’s presence and almost to have brawled there—was it any wonder that he had found himself under arrest?
He seems to retain a fair amount of his feelings about saving Ewen's life and nursing him at the shieling. But he's all "OMG what was I thinking?" about his behavior with Loudoun. Which, no wonder! He could have achieved more for Ewen if he had kept his head, after all. But then he doesn't write to Ewen--his care for his military career still weighs heavier. Which actually makes it all the more effective when he sacrifices that in the next chapter! And does it without being in Ewen's presence, too.
Oops, I mostly commented on Keith's chapter--well, I'll come back to comment on Ewen's tomorrow. I have no research reading written up this week; instead I've been sewing an 18th century men's shirt! : D It's not completely done, but maybe I'll put up some photos tomorrow of what I've got so far.
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Date: Dec. 11th, 2021 09:54 pm (UTC)Looking forward to seeing pictures of the shirt!
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Date: Dec. 13th, 2021 05:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Dec. 13th, 2021 05:56 pm (UTC)Argh, yes, exactly!
...but then, he has something else to care about now. ♥
:)
Hehe, Keith is getting there with his understanding...! I also like the... definiteness? implied in the fact that Keith's choices for Ewen in this chapter are so coolly made and deliberate rather than rashly impulsive. The goodness that Ewen inspires in him is more definitely established now, perhaps? Though it is also his own sense of honour that leads him to refuse to go to Carlisle, of course—but that too is something he shares with Ewen, as this pair of chapters show so clearly.
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Date: Dec. 11th, 2021 09:23 pm (UTC)Ch VI is the only one in the book which doesn't really work for me, and never has. It's too similar to Ch II. Same location, same dynamics, just ramped up. Oh, well.
The procession of memorable aides-de-camp continues. The exquisite one in Ch VI always makes me smile - she has a way of nailing a minor character without going into endless detail.
Captain Greening being womanish - well, that's unfortunate by the standards of a hundred years later. Either it's a product of her time, or it's internalised misogyny, or, and this is my preferred possibility, he's based on an officer she knew. Most British officers in WW1 were excellent (and their very high casualty rates had consequences in the somewhat humdrum nature of senior officers in WW2) but there would always be bad apples.
Here's hoping things calm down for you, regshoe! Not a great time of year for things to go bad. Thank-you for keeping up with the posting.
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Date: Dec. 13th, 2021 06:06 pm (UTC):D
I like the contrast between the rash impulsiveness of chapter 2 and the deliberate coolness of chapter 6—I think there's a sense that Keith's placing Ewen and his honour above his ambition has become more firmly entrenched. But I take your point about their similarity, especially in the way Keith is conveniently and unexpectedly saved from actually being cashiered a second time. Va n jnl V guvax vg jbhyq unir orra jnl zber vagrerfgvat vs Xrvgu unq riraghnyyl unq gb snpr erny pbafrdhraprf gb uvf pnerre sbe gur pubvprf ur znxrf sbe Rjra'f fnxr... ohg V'yy gnyx nobhg gung jura jr trg gb gur raqvat!
Yes, I suppose the other possible explanation for the dwelling on Greening's womanishness is that it's an attempt to add memorable colour to a minor character, as Broster so often does, and that that colour might have been taken from a real person. I like the thought of her using her own war experience to inspire military background characters!
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Date: Dec. 13th, 2021 10:04 pm (UTC)Wouldn't be a story if he had to go and earn his living as a secretary or riding-master or something! Prophecy, what prophecy?
I like the thought of her using her own war experience to inspire military background characters!
The tiny detail that's a stand-out to me is at the shieling when Guthrie's saddle creaks as he pulls himself upright again. That's a memory of her own, or I'll eat my hat.
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Date: Dec. 12th, 2021 05:22 pm (UTC)Keith came very close to being "cashiered" after his antics with Loudoun. Possibly everyone here already knows this, but on first read I was under the false impression that cashiering was a bloodless and purely administrative action that would separate him from the army;
Consequently, I think there's an interesting parallel here with Ewen. Last week
(Of course this makes me want fic where Keith is cashiered for Ewen's sake. It also makes me want fic where Loudoun spreads his lies and gets Ewen ejected from Clan Cameron. They do not have to be the same fic.)
I also note that immediately after Culloden, Keith was insistent that his "hands were clean of massacre" -- and in fact, the text was full of how revolted Keith was by what the Army was doing, and while he didn't try to overtly intervene, he did try to keep clear of it. But in these chapters... Well, Broster brushes past it fairly quickly, but Keith is apparently no longer trying to dodge what's expected of him, but is instead making a point of being seen unhesitatingly doing all the things that earlier revolted him. It's unclear exactly how dirty Keith's hands are right now from what he's been doing in Inverness? But I suspect that pre-shieling Keith would have been revolted and possibly even horrified by what Keith has been doing since his narrow escape from cashiering. There's an argument to be made that, in rejecting the alleged duty the Army now expects of him, he feels relief that this will get him ejected from the Army -- at least he'll get to stop doing all the things that are currently revolting him and making him miserable.
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Date: Dec. 12th, 2021 08:05 pm (UTC)I have written the first of those, but nobody has yet written the second. *g*
And re: your last paragraph, yeah, I noted that while reading but then never commented on it. This is really chilling: General Blakeney, a hard man, had no fault to find with Hawley’s disgraced staff-officer. Augh, Keith, what are you doing? /o\
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Date: Dec. 12th, 2021 08:40 pm (UTC)Augh, Keith, what are you doing? /o\ Not good, whatever it is. Ubarfgyl, V pna frr jul Oebfgre xvyyrq uvz va gur raq. Yvxr jvgu Znvgynaq, qrngu vf sne fvzcyre guna univat gb yvir bhg bar'f erqrzcgvba.
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Date: Dec. 13th, 2021 06:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Dec. 13th, 2021 06:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Dec. 13th, 2021 06:15 pm (UTC)I see
The 'prudence' stuff is pretty horrible, isn't it? It's really sad the way Keith feels the need to make up for his own good choices, as it were, by doing more of the evil that's expected of him, and apparently trying to convince himself to see it as the sensible, if not the right, thing to do. And I think that argument could certainly be made, yes—Keith, who's been an officer for twelve years, clearly has expectations of the Army that it's not currently living up to (wishing he could get back to 'civilised warfare' and all), and I can imagine him, horrified at what his... home? has become, relieved to be thrown out of it.
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Date: Dec. 13th, 2021 05:30 pm (UTC)This week's pair of chapters make a contrast with last week's—then we had two chapters running continuously together and all about Keith and Ewen interacting, this time we have two distinct episodes with each main character on his own. As
I think the interactions between Ewen and Lord Loudoun are particularly interesting. Their shared Highland identity, opposed sides in the war, historic clan enmity and the present imbalance of power from Ewen being Loudoun's prisoner all combine to create a complicated dynamic. Loudoun is apparently ready to believe Ewen's word over Greening's quite casually, and to emphasise his respect for Ewen in front of Greening and the other officers ('"Nor is Mr Cameron asleep now"')—was that all in service of his later underhand suggestions, or is there some real intra-Highland respect here? Ewen doesn't seem to think so, however, and I love his spirited attack on Loudoun, rout of Moy and all. (I also like him 'softly' calling Greening a '"pretty consummate scoundrel"').
Ewen is still not sure what to make of Keith! 'That he had personally attracted the English soldier would never have occurred to him.' —awww. But despite his lack of comprehension he does still appreciate the significance of that 'double blessing'.
'"My heart and my honour..."' —oh, Ewen, so earnestly loyal ;_;
I will confess that my favourite thing about chapter 5 is that Ewen didn't betray Lochiel after all—because, apparently, while most of his subconscious was dwelling on Lochiel's hiding place enough to reveal almost all the details in his sleep, part of it was still thinking about Keith and the night in the shieling instead. <3
Oh dear, being on the shelf is terribly bad for our Keith! His reaction against his own goodness, and his 'prudence', are really rather sad. Keith has good moral instincts, in his first spell in Inverness as well as in the reckless moment of trying to save Ewen, but he is far too ready to decide against listening to them when left to reflection in the midst of a culture like that of the British Army in Inverness.
...and yet, as soon as Ewen is in the picture again, Keith goes back to vehemently doing the right thing at the cost of his own dear ambition—and this time not in the heat of anger but in a cool, determined calmness which is really a rather funny contrast to Cumberland's temper tantrum (the line 'He stamped his royal foot' is an excellent Brosterism!). And at the end of it, facing 'the wreck of his ambitions', he is still thinking more of his own honour, and indeed he's 'glad to be rid of the prudence which had shackled him'. Good for him.
I shall express my agreement with the general anti-Guthrie sentiment here—it's especially egregious of him to keep being malicious to Keith after Keith has lost the staff position he was so jealous of in the first place!—and also with the appreciation for Captain Ferrers, in whom I wonder if we have a more positive example of a slightly effeminate male character than Greening?
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Date: Dec. 15th, 2021 08:18 pm (UTC)Oh, that's true! He's not explicitly described as effeminate, but "elegant" and "exquisite" do at least make him sound like a dandy. Also he says "la". : )
Their shared Highland identity, opposed sides in the war, historic clan enmity and the present imbalance of power from Ewen being Loudoun's prisoner all combine to create a complicated dynamic.
Yes, it does make for a complicated situation--they have a shared cultural understanding, but also a lot of things dividing them.