Living In Two Times

[LoBugs]

I had felt that he was working against Connie, but I hadn't got quite as far with how yet. Your points would make sense though. Very insightful!

Lobugs

[LoBugs]

That's funny because I don't care for history in general and I am finding it very easy and interesting to read. She doesn't bog you down in the history, it flows easily with the story.

Lobugs

[LoBugs]

I think that it is interesting how easily Connie connects with Sam, concidering that she is not good with people or animals. Is it because he holds some kind of power? Something beyound their common interest in history. He seems to jump right her thought process and even adds to it with the find of the marker, without much extra background from Connie.

Lobugs

[januttall]

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deaver wrote:

I want to discuss Chilton.

How about those word choices to describe his eyes?  Hungry...serpentine...

He has a Brahman accent - old New Enland all the way.

He is into Alchemy???  His obsession with Connie's ancestoral find. Remember his last question to Connie in the Orals? - perhaps they were really witches? -

And what stitched it up for me was the painting Connie was mesmorized by as she waited outside his office during his heated up phone call.  (The painting is on pg 65).  Just let me throw a couple of her images out there:  "winding river" (so snake like) ... "forbidden wilderness"..(so witchy) ..."the many different species of herb and vine"... images she uses throughout the book to pull in 17th century to present day.

I myself think that Chilton is a warlock, though I haven't read ahead, may be wrong,  and may just be reading to much into it.

And I don't think my discussion of Chilton is off key.  This is one of many examples of the various ways that the readers already mentioned that Katherine keeps us intuned to both the latter and present day world of sorcery and witchcraft.

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Ooooooh, I love your theory re:Chilton!  And for opening my eyes to a view that hadn't entered my mind, a Laurel for you! 

I'm really enjoying this discussion and appreciate everyone taking the time to share their thoughts and insights!

[debbook]

Spoiler Alert

I am really wondering about Chilton, now that Prudence has sold the book. I think he must be related to the man that bought it and now he has it, but needs Connie's powers to prove it is more than a recipe book for healing. I think Chilton has a god complex

[Silvia]

The transition from one time period to the other is smooth and easy to follow. I can’t wait to find out what else Connie will find in the house.

[nfam]

For me, the scenes in colonial times make the book. The characters are believeable, the scenes ring true. Those scenes are a great job and make the book well worth reading. Unfortuately I can't say the same about the modern scenes. Connie, for a doctoral student in American history, seems totally clueless. I mean why would someone have lots of glass jars both in colonia times, as seen by Deliverance's will and in the old house. Personally, particularly with the garden, I would have though herbal healing immediately. I think many people would. The scene with Sam in the bar is also a drag. The author is austensibly using the conversation to bring us up to speed on the witch trials. Perhaps it has to be done, but there are more dramatic and interesting ways to do it.

I think the premise of the book is interesting and moving back and forth between time periods is excellent. It makes the book.

[MYK]

There was no real effect in the shift of scenes for me. I go with the flow. I placed myself in both places, using my imagination equally. The academic scene captures the real tension by the doubt Connie had that she answered things correctly. By the glances and silence of the others in the room. Connie wanting to play with her hair then restraining the urge. The last push to answer a question. Yea, I felt that tension::::whew::::.

I am very comfortable moving back and forth in time. I love it. I thik its because it is written well. It is not confusing. Thanks, Katherine. Good work!

Similarities. Yes. People. People regardless of time, will always be people. Challenging the truth, beliefs, what's right, whats wrong, judging, paying for mistakes, by accident or intentional.

[aprilh]

Deaver, your mention of the beam of sunlight slowly disappearing through Connie's exams made me think of something. I may be way off track here, but did anyone else see a parallel between the sun beam slowly disappearing in Connie's exam room and the eventual death of Martha? It seemed to me that after the last bit of sunlight disappered from the exam room that we discover (in the next Interlude) that Deliverance was unable to cure Martha, resulting in the child's death. The sunlight vanishing and the child dying ended with the same result. Both being extinguished. Who knows? Just something to think about.

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deaver wrote:

Hello Readers!

The first things that srike me in this novel and especially with the opening chapters is katherines use of imagery, foreshadowing, and the mood and tone. 

We know something witchy is brewing in the pot that is boiling over the fire with its ingredients of peas and 'applewood'.  The mood is dark and mysterious...very anxious and grevious.  The lady comes in yet she has an 'open' face a 'white' coif and she has a dog lapping around her...hardly seeming of a harmless type.

Then we move to chapter one and the mood is also somewhat anxious, dark and quiet.  The sunbeam, follow it through the first chapter if you will as it grows more dim then goes out.  We get introduced to Chilton and his 'Brahman' accent.  So old New England.  And then we see Katherine outside the room releasing some of that tension from the exam while lounging on the couch. She sees a mouse run behind a plant and (doesn't get grossed out?) she begins to think of this 'hidden' world under the walls and pipes of Harvard but is this foreshadowing of the somewhat 'hidden' world of witchcraft that even the Harvard scholars have never yet really considered.    And this sunbeam to me seemed to filter this hidden world into the present world of Connie Goodwin.  Though the sunbeam can have other meanings and I would like to hear anyone elses take on the foreshadowing and symbols that Howe uses.

Pretty Cool. 

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[DebsScott]

My thoughts on Chilton:

I'm not sure Chilton is necessarily EVIL...I do think he has his own agenda where the book is concerned.  It's almost as if he led Connie to open her mind to the whole witchcraft idea.  He wants that book for his own means.  I don't trust him.

I believe authors put "clues" into books...in other words, everything that is mentioned in detail is done that way to draw our attention to it.  (Hey, I dug through clues in Harry Potter books too much and have learned that lesson well.)  The veggies growing in the garden, the mandrake root, the painting in the hallway outside the exam room right down to the question Chilton asks last are placed there for a reason.  Extra attention was given the make them noticable, therefore they will play an important part later in the book.   (Must be careful not to OVER analyze though!)  Katherine Howe has most definitely pointed out some things about our dear advisor...from his serpentine glimmering eyes, to his accent that is "barely heard anymore" to the books on Alchemy and medieval Chemistry (a bit strange since he specializes in AMERICAN history)...that make it almost certain we will be hearing from him again!

Back to Chilton...like I said, he's after something...not perhaps for evil for evil's sake, but something to further his own life plan.  Something he would do whatever he had to do to get.

[DSaff]

Nice catch, aprilh 

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aprilh wrote:

Deaver, your mention of the beam of sunlight slowly disappearing through Connie's exams made me think of something. I may be way off track here, but did anyone else see a parallel between the sun beam slowly disappearing in Connie's exam room and the eventual death of Martha? It seemed to me that after the last bit of sunlight disappered from the exam room that we discover (in the next Interlude) that Deliverance was unable to cure Martha, resulting in the child's death. The sunlight vanishing and the child dying ended with the same result. Both being extinguished. Who knows? Just something to think about.

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deaver wrote:

Hello Readers!

The first things that srike me in this novel and especially with the opening chapters is katherines use of imagery, foreshadowing, and the mood and tone. 

We know something witchy is brewing in the pot that is boiling over the fire with its ingredients of peas and 'applewood'.  The mood is dark and mysterious...very anxious and grevious.  The lady comes in yet she has an 'open' face a 'white' coif and she has a dog lapping around her...hardly seeming of a harmless type.

Then we move to chapter one and the mood is also somewhat anxious, dark and quiet.  The sunbeam, follow it through the first chapter if you will as it grows more dim then goes out.  We get introduced to Chilton and his 'Brahman' accent.  So old New England.  And then we see Katherine outside the room releasing some of that tension from the exam while lounging on the couch. She sees a mouse run behind a plant and (doesn't get grossed out?) she begins to think of this 'hidden' world under the walls and pipes of Harvard but is this foreshadowing of the somewhat 'hidden' world of witchcraft that even the Harvard scholars have never yet really considered.    And this sunbeam to me seemed to filter this hidden world into the present world of Connie Goodwin.  Though the sunbeam can have other meanings and I would like to hear anyone elses take on the foreshadowing and symbols that Howe uses.

Pretty Cool. 

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[deaver]

I can't comment on Chilton anymore. I haven't read all -- but me thinks me read too much !  

April thanks for the input on the sunbeam.  She uses them frequently.  The most pronounced I would say is in the oral exam.  I have to go back and reread the part with Deliverence and Martha. 

This is one of the things I'd like to ask Katherine herself when she hops on board.

[Ronrose]

I am comfortable with the scene shifts. It is not an unusual way of weaving the threads of past and present into the narrative of the story. I must say I feel closer to Connie taking her exams, as I was forced to dust off my old friend, Webster's lexicon, a number of times to keep up with the wonderfully descriptive text. A welcome change, I might add from much of the lackluster writing currently in vogue.

[januttall]

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aprilh wrote:

Deaver, your mention of the beam of sunlight slowly disappearing through Connie's exams made me think of something. I may be way off track here, but did anyone else see a parallel between the sun beam slowly disappearing in Connie's exam room and the eventual death of Martha? It seemed to me that after the last bit of sunlight disappered from the exam room that we discover (in the next Interlude) that Deliverance was unable to cure Martha, resulting in the child's death. The sunlight vanishing and the child dying ended with the same result. Both being extinguished. Who knows? Just something to think about.

good catch, aprilh!

[Immortal-Spirit]

To touch on what MSaff said about being powerless, the father is also letting Deliverance attend to his daughter out of desperation.  As it says he wouldn't consult someone like her any other time.

Karen

[nikki824]

I enjoy the shifting of time back and forth. I wouldn't have enjoyed the book any other way.

[Bengel]

Great observations deaver - I have the same thoughts!

I, too, was struck by the painting and and Connie's reaction to it.

[deaver]

I have come to appreciate and more fully understand Howe's use of the sunbeam in chapter one.

It helps to keep that dark, still mood flowing from the prologue, thereby acting as a filter to pull the earlier century into the present from the onset.

It also gives the reader a fuller understanding of the time length of the oral exams and that stress factor as well.

This novel is well thought out and though her strategies at times are somewhat conspicuous, they are making the novel enjoyably interesting for me.

[Bridget2]

I agree - Chilton is slimy.  I don't like him, and I think he is up to something.  I haven't quite figured out what yet, but I do think that it's weird that he is not only giving her a little too much direction in her dissertation topic, but he is also pushing her to find a new primary source.  How many PhD students are able to do that?  II find it strange that that is his request.  t's almost like he already knows that Connie has Sophia's ancient house to search through.  That maybe adds to the warlock theory, although I must admit I have not thought of that before.  All I know is that something is definitely up with him!

I am really enjoying both time periods.  In another discussion, someone said that they find the interludes interruptive.  I feel exactly the opposite; without the flashbacks, I think that the book would lose a lot of its mystique; plus, it wouldn't be historical fiction, one of my favorite genres!  I like how the two time periods seem to be connected in some way; there is definitely a lot of foreshadowing going on.

[Deltadawn]

I find this book difficult to put down - the story lines and characters are so captivating! The shifts in the scenes from the 1600's to 1991 are very smooth and I find it very easy to adjust to them.  They both capture my imagination and attention - but in different ways.

The scene at the child's sickbed certainly captures my attention because I am concerned for the child & her father - there is mystery surrounding the woman who comes to provide help. 

I am so interested in Connie's qualifying exam, as well. It's interesting to see how these exams might proceed - and I feel her tension and worry at the outcome of the exam. 

The author brilliantly describes characters and scenes. I guess a similarity in both of these scenes is that in each of them a woman is faced with a very high stakes challenge and the  uncertainty as to the outcome leads to suspense and tension.