Carpe Diem

[Wrighty]

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literature wrote:
The paper weight was so obvious. There was just too much emphasis on Juliet finding the paperweight in the ruble. It was like a light flashing that said, "remember the paperweight". I know it belonged to her father and it was one of the few things that was not damaged in the bombing raids. I had my smile ready, waiting for it to be mentioned again and it took the whole book She may have been "goaded by a bit of rock--into making her feelings for Dawsey plain", but what other sign, except "Carpe Diem" engraved on the paperweight, could have cued her? Dawsey was too reserved to come forth and the almost kiss between Dawsey and Juliet had distanced their relationship too much. Kit would have been my guess to blurt out the truth.

Message Edited by literature on 09-17-2008 08:26 PM

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Yes, Kit would have been the perfect choice to be honest and tell it like it is, especially about the two people she cared the most about. I think there were several factors that made Juliet finally assert herself. She was already feeling depressed and frustrated because she thought she had misread all of the cues that Dawsey had given her. But when Isola came to her house crying because she had failed in her mission to find evidence of Dawsey liking Remy she unintentionally revealed his true love. Even when Juliet figured it out and then decided to go pursue him Isola still didn't know what was going on. In fact, she didn't catch on until she heard Juliet propose to Dawsey.

[Wrighty]

I thought it very appropriate that the last words in the book belonged to Adelaide. I'm sure she would have been happy to know that herself. And as always, even her compliments aren't very kind but luckily no one really cares!

This was in Juliet's letter to Sydney asking him to come to her wedding.

P.S. I ran into Adelaide Addison in St. Peter Port today. By way of congratulation, she said "I hear you and that pig-farmer are going to regularize your connection. Praise the Lord!"

[Annie_Barrows]

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Wrighty wrote:

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literature wrote:
The paper weight was so obvious. There was just too much emphasis on Juliet finding the paperweight in the ruble. It was like a light flashing that said, "remember the paperweight". I know it belonged to her father and it was one of the few things that was not damaged in the bombing raids. I had my smile ready, waiting for it to be mentioned again and it took the whole book She may have been "goaded by a bit of rock--into making her feelings for Dawsey plain", but what other sign, except "Carpe Diem" engraved on the paperweight, could have cued her? Dawsey was too reserved to come forth and the almost kiss between Dawsey and Juliet had distanced their relationship too much. Kit would have been my guess to blurt out the truth.

Message Edited by literature on 09-17-2008 08:26 PM

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Yes, Kit would have been the perfect choice to be honest and tell it like it is, especially about the two people she cared the most about. I think there were several factors that made Juliet finally assert herself. She was already feeling depressed and frustrated because she thought she had misread all of the cues that Dawsey had given her. But when Isola came to her house crying because she had failed in her mission to find evidence of Dawsey liking Remy she unintentionally revealed his true love. Even when Juliet figured it out and then decided to go pursue him Isola still didn't know what was going on. In fact, she didn't catch on until she heard Juliet propose to Dawsey.

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Yes, Isola unwittingly tipped Juliet off about Dawsey's feelings by telling her the contents of his secret box. The paper weight just urged her to take action. 

[Annie_Barrows]

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Wrighty wrote:

I thought it very appropriate that the last words in the book belonged to Adelaide. I'm sure she would have been happy to know that herself. And as always, even her compliments aren't very kind but luckily no one really cares!

This was in Juliet's letter to Sydney asking him to come to her wedding.

P.S. I ran into Adelaide Addison in St. Peter Port today. By way of congratulation, she said "I hear you and that pig-farmer are going to regularize your connection. Praise the Lord!"

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Poor Adelaide--that's as pleasant as she gets!

[debbook]

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Wrighty wrote:

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Yes, Kit would have been the perfect choice to be honest and tell it like it is, especially about the two people she cared the most about. I think there were several factors that made Juliet finally assert herself. She was already feeling depressed and frustrated because she thought she had misread all of the cues that Dawsey had given her. But when Isola came to her house crying because she had failed in her mission to find evidence of Dawsey liking Remy she unintentionally revealed his true love. Even when Juliet figured it out and then decided to go pursue him Isola still didn't know what was going on. In fact, she didn't catch on until she heard Juliet propose to Dawsey.

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The real Miss Marple would have figured it out!

[Wrighty]

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debbook wrote: 

The real Miss Marple would have figured it out!

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I think everybody would have figured it out except poor Isola. Fortunately it worked out even better than expected. And Isola certainly did try hard. I thought it was great that she started taking notes on page 263.

Detection Notes of Miss Isola Pribby

Private: Not To Be Read, Even After Death!

(The third and fourth day had already gotten a bit slow.)

Tuesday

Nothing noteworthy today.

Wednesday

Nothing again.

[Fozzie]

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Wrighty wrote:

 I thought it was great that she started taking notes on page 263.

Detection Notes of Miss Isola Pribby

Private: Not To Be Read, Even After Death!

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I thought this was a really clever way for the authors to give the readers information they needed to know, but information that would seem fake or forced in a letter.

Annie, would you comment on how and why the journal format was used?  Thanks.

[Annie_Barrows]

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Fozzie wrote:

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Wrighty wrote:

 I thought it was great that she started taking notes on page 263.

Detection Notes of Miss Isola Pribby

Private: Not To Be Read, Even After Death!

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I thought this was a really clever way for the authors to give the readers information they needed to know, but information that would seem fake or forced in a letter.

Annie, would you comment on how and why the journal format was used?  Thanks.

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The only other way for the climax to play out would be in a letter (or letters) from Juliet to Sidney or Sophie, and I think this would have mired us right smack in the middle of the episistolery problem. It's just not natural for someone in the throes of love to sit down and write a twenty-page letter telling how it all shook down. There was no precedent--or rationale--for the members of the Society to write to one another, and for one of them to do so would again have been counter-intuitive. It didn't seem to us that consistency of format was terrifically important. So the solution was to switch to the journal, and who better to rely upon than Isola, who is utterly likely to be in the center of the action and utterly unlikely to interpret the action correctly. Plus, I have to admit, Isola's voice is a pleasure to write.

[Wrighty]

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Annie_Barrows wrote:

The only other way for the climax to play out would be in a letter (or letters) from Juliet to Sidney or Sophie, and I think this would have mired us right smack in the middle of the episistolery problem. It's just not natural for someone in the throes of love to sit down and write a twenty-page letter telling how it all shook down. There was no precedent--or rationale--for the members of the Society to write to one another, and for one of them to do so would again have been counter-intuitive. It didn't seem to us that consistency of format was terrifically important. So the solution was to switch to the journal, and who better to rely upon than Isola, who is utterly likely to be in the center of the action and utterly unlikely to interpret the action correctly. Plus, I have to admit, Isola's voice is a pleasure to write.

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And a pleasure to read. Great decision!

[debbook]

She was my favorite Islander, so I'm glad she got to wrap it up in the end ( even if she misconstrued everything)

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Wrighty wrote:

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Annie_Barrows wrote:

The only other way for the climax to play out would be in a letter (or letters) from Juliet to Sidney or Sophie, and I think this would have mired us right smack in the middle of the episistolery problem. It's just not natural for someone in the throes of love to sit down and write a twenty-page letter telling how it all shook down. There was no precedent--or rationale--for the members of the Society to write to one another, and for one of them to do so would again have been counter-intuitive. It didn't seem to us that consistency of format was terrifically important. So the solution was to switch to the journal, and who better to rely upon than Isola, who is utterly likely to be in the center of the action and utterly unlikely to interpret the action correctly. Plus, I have to admit, Isola's voice is a pleasure to write.

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And a pleasure to read. Great decision!

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[Wrighty]

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debbook wrote:
She was my favorite Islander, so I'm glad she got to wrap it up in the end ( even if she misconstrued everything)

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I liked all of the characters but she was my favorite too. Even though her detective work was wrong it still was the catalyst that finally got Juliet and Dawsey on the right track with their relationship. Her techniques weren't  the best but her intentions were.

[Sunltcloud]

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Wrighty wrote:

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debbook wrote:
She was my favorite Islander, so I'm glad she got to wrap it up in the end ( even if she misconstrued everything)

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I liked all of the characters but she was my favorite too. Even though her detective work was wrong it still was the catalyst that finally got Juliet and Dawsey on the right track with their relationship. Her techniques weren't  the best but her intentions were.

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My favorite too. And I assume that her faulty techniques were purposely selected by the authors, because flawless execution of purpose becomes boring in a novel. There always needs to be a bit of human "malfunction." What say you, Annie?

[Annie_Barrows]

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Sunltcloud wrote:

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Wrighty wrote:

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debbook wrote:
She was my favorite Islander, so I'm glad she got to wrap it up in the end ( even if she misconstrued everything)

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I liked all of the characters but she was my favorite too. Even though her detective work was wrong it still was the catalyst that finally got Juliet and Dawsey on the right track with their relationship. Her techniques weren't  the best but her intentions were.

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My favorite too. And I assume that her faulty techniques were purposely selected by the authors, because flawless execution of purpose becomes boring in a novel. There always needs to be a bit of human "malfunction." What say you, Annie?

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Flawless execution equals no story. Every story consists, essentially, of change over time, and there's no need to change if you're already flawless. I'll take human malfunction and the ensuing story over perfect understanding every time.