Monday 23 April 2012

The Woman in White- Part Three

Oh my God. Just, that. I can't even get my head around everything that happened in this part of the book, and I've had a few days to absorb all the shocks! I just... The Secrets! The Deaths! The Rebirths! The Fire! How this is not being exploited for some awful Hollywood blockbuster right now is just beyond my comprehension, but then, maybe the people who write those kinds of movies don't read these kinds of books? Just a thought...

SO! I think I'm just going to have to go from the beginning and just get stuck into it all really! (Can you tell I'm excited? That's what the exclamation marks mean, excited.) So firstly, OMG, Marian got all ill after her rooftop ninja antics (because, after all, she's still just a woman and obviously can't deal with being out in the night air, although also, she just heard some dudes plotting to kill her sister) and then Fosco found her diary and wrote a really creepy message in it. He's so... well, he makes me feel icky, anyway. Because he's all like 'oh Marian, you are so wonderous and a worthy opponent, but if I had to, I'd eat your young.' Just very very creepy. And then, straight after that, even though it was actually too much magnificence to bear, was Mr Fairlie's narrative.

I think we can all agree that was literally the greatest part of the book, right? Of ANY book, maybe? He's just so... so hard done by, and yet has the biggest superiority complex I've ever seen! 'Why do these people bother me with their problems? Why did the poor person tell me that she stayed at a pub when it literally has nothing to do with me/what I want to hear?" I mean, I hate it when people include unnecessary information in their stories too, but come on! The poor girl's just trying to tell how she got there! He's just far too excellent, far too easy for the Count to manipulate, and basically just the best minor character that's ever been in anything ever.

But anyway. In spite of his magnificence, he's maybe not that vital to the story so I should probably move on, yes? I felt really sorry for Laura getting all duped into going to London- I'm actually a teeny bit ashamed to admit that I kind of didn't see that deception coming! I honestly believed that Marian was in London too, at least, and that they'd use her to keep Laura there or something. But nope, far more twisted-ly, she'd been moved to a disused part of the house and not even the housekeeper knew she was there! That's pretty messed up, Percy. I would like to say that I didn't for one moment believe that Laura was dead though, apart from, stupidly, a bit into the Third Epoch when I was like 'oh shit, but what if Anne really is just pretending to be Laura?!' a thing which I'm mostly over now, but I'm still looking at Laura sideways a little bit, just like 'hmmm... hmmm.'

And may I add, poor Anne! I'm dying to know whether the switch was intentional, and whether Fosco was being sortofkindof kind in just putting Laura in the nuthouse rather than killing her, or if he genuinely believed that she was the one he was killing (or... did he kill her? I guess it was Anne's weak heart, but if she was horrified by Fosco in some way, then I guess that basically means he killed her.) All of that is basically why I'm going to read the rest of the book probably by the end of the day, because I just NEED to know now! Seriously!

And then there was blah blah blah, Walter the man is protecting the two delicate ladies, Laura is being treated like an absolute child ("You want to help? That's so cute! I know, why don't I pretend to sell some of your drawings and actually give you the money I earn because obviously you're completely useless!" Ugh. It bugged me, I'm not going to lie. And how creepy is this, from Walter: "In the right of her calamity, in the right of her friendlessness, she was mine at last!" Nice. Very nice.) And what also bugged me is that Walter gets to go off and do all his investigative work in Hampshire, when clearly Marian is the man for the job! But anyway, yes, Victorian times, and it's easier for Walter to get information and Marian would be an unescorted woman and blah blah blah. So. Mrs Catherick's a bit of a weird one, isn't she? "Oh, my daughter's dead? I'll just change my gloves, no worries. I never liked her anyway." And, and, Anne isn't Percy's daughter, which is good to know, and do we now think she is Mr Fairlie's, i.e. Laura's half sister? I'm undecided, but we do know that Laura looks like her father, and that Anne is basically not Mr Catherick's daughter, so, I don't know. Maybe, although at this point I hardly even care because there's not going to be some wonderful reunion at the end, so *sulk*.

And, (nearly) finally, there was The Secret. Now, this may have just been me, but was this a bit of an anti-climax? I mean, I was reading this bit when I was really tired and had spent the morning at the hospital so I was a little bit like 'blaefrgh' (I actually missed the bit where there was a fire, and had to go back some pages. 'What? There's a body? Why is there a body and whose is it?' were literally my thoughts) but the secret is that he's not really a baronet? I can see why that would be a reason to kill Laura if he thought she knew, but at the same time, I really wanted Mr Catherick's body to be in his lake! I guess we'll find out more about this in the last bit, but do we think that Percy is maybe a 'foreigner' like Fosco, and that's why they're such good friends/dastardly villains? And if so, a tiny bit xenophobic Wilkie? Really?

Since I'm not as good a person as Walter, I really can't feel sad that Percy's dead, mainly because he was a giant asshole. But here's what I'm thinking. Now that Percy's dead, are we to assume that Fosco has really been the majorest major villain all along, in spite of the fact that he's so damn charming and nice to the animals? Was the fire in the church set by Percy who accidently locked himself in, or did Fosco not want him to get out for some other reason? I don't really know why I want Fosco to be behind everything, but I sort of really do! And in case I wasn't sure how to feel about him, my rule-of-Marian was there to set me straight:
"'Walter!' she said, 'if ever those two men are at your mercy and you are obliged to save one of them- don't let it be the Count.'"
Something tells me Marian can think of another word that she'd like to call him, but she's too much of a lady to do so...

18 comments:

  1. haha you know there are so many twists and turns to this book that I cant remember it all and I didnt finish reading it that long ago. I thought it was brilliant though in a twisty/thriller kind of way. Its not exactly a book where the characters spend their time staring at eachother is it?

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    1. It really isn't one of those books! And when the characters do just sit around staring at each other, you're like 'but where's FOSCO?!' and you just want them to get on with it! It really is excellent, and I'm so excited/sad to finish it!

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  2. I have to say I don't even remember that that was the secret, so it really didn't shock me either. Didn't seem a reason to kill, you know? I was far more interested in Marian's antics and the whole switcheroo.

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    1. Indeed. Although I suppose it would have been a fairly massive thing, and I think there was talk of people who do that being hanged, so... kill or be killed, I guess! I am so so interested in the switcheroo, I really want to know how/what happened!

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  3. "and basically just the best minor character that's ever been in anything ever." Yesssss.

    Also, I thought the secret was kiind of funny, because there've been so many "He was behaving in such an ungentlemanly way!"-type comments, and rather than just having a totally asshole baronet, it's like "Ohhhh he's not of that CLASS; that must be why he acted that way." Uh-huh. I see, Wilkie. Liberal, were you? *puts on quizzical hat*

    REMEMBER MARIAN OFFERED HIM SNOOPING HELP AND HE ACCEPTED. So that'll happen later. I'm almost positive.

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    1. This is a very good point! And also the foreigner thing, not just the class thing. Well, actually I'm just assuming that Percy's a foreigner now, he could easily be just a poor English person I guess!

      I FORGOT! Or possibly I read that bit in my tired state where I shouldn't have been reading. But I am interested by that as well now, and I expect Marian to get RESULTS!

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  4. Mr. Fairlie's part is by far the best narrative. I forgot about him being annoyed at Fanny for talking about staying at a Pub when that had nothing to do with him. So much awesomeness there.

    I was totally thinking Fosco had gone a bit soft in not killing Laura. I mean right? What's the benefit in keeping her alive? Well I mean to Percy and Fosco that is. Obviously Marian and Walter could argue some reasons they want her around.

    The way Walter treated Laura was so annoying. I know she's no Marian but the way she stood up to Percy with the whole document signing thing shows she's not a weak little flower.

    I keep holding out hope that something else is going to happen. Bodies in the lake! *fingers crossed*

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    1. Annoyed at Fanny... ARGH! (I forgot her name was Fanny, and have now re-freaked out over it. I'm ok now!)

      I really don't know why Fosco had qualms about killing Laura! Unless its cause he's all into Marian, and doesn't want to upset her *that* badly, in which case... kind of ok, except that Anne was more interesting (read: crazy) than Laura and so I'm kind of more sad that she's dead?

      I've read a teeny bit more today (I let myself after I've written the post hehe) and it gets SO much more annoying with regards to Laura. You'll see. It made me all RJGFSZNGJNWFNEGJ!

      Bodies in the lake indeed. Indeed.

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    2. Ahh wouldn't it be great if Fosco didn't kill Laura because he's afraid that would draw too much of Marian's wrath? Cos it totally would. I mean hell, she already tried to sic Walter on Fosco except he's all like "I have no idea what I'm getting into so instead I'll just go for Percy and ignore the Count cos I don't think he's a threat."

      OK now I'm picturing Marian going all Death Wish on Fosco, even though I've never seen Death Wish so that reference may be all kinds of off.

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    3. I'm thinking that Fosco just wanted a death as unsuspicious as possible. He knew that Anne was in very poor health as he finagled that information out of her guardian, Mrs. Clements. Laura was feeling poorly indeed, but she wasn't as near to death's door as Anne was. But I do wonder what the Countess said to Anne that she died so suddenly. The Countess did seem alarmed that she died right then.

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    4. I have barely any idea what Death Wish is, so, yeah, you're on your own there! But Walter is definitely avoiding the Count because he's scared of him because I hate Walter and thus am forced to emasculate him.

      I feel like Anne dying suddenly is more suspicious, cause why would Laura have just dropped dead like that out of stress? I dunno. It's all tooooo much!

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  5. Mr. Fairlie is literary perfection. Although if I ever met him in real life I would smack him with a squeaky show.

    I'm hoping we find out whether Fosco actually offed Anne or if it was natural causes. I mean, what are the chances she just happens to drop dead in his house and Fosco is all "Ah-ha! This sudden death gives me a nefarious idea!"

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    1. SQUEAKY SHOE.

      Ugh, I should reread before I click. How would I even go about smacking someone with a show?

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    2. Yeah, Mr Fairlie is definitely one of those characters that you really wouldn't want to meet, in spite of their HILARITY in literature!

      I've kind of already finished the book (it being Tuesday and all), and let's just say... actually, I'm not going to say anything. Except that ALL WILL BE REVEALED!

      Also, lol at the shoe/show thing. I guess if a show was really bad, you could smack someone with it?

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  6. Yeah, if the whole Secret is just that Percy was not a Baronet, I will be disappointed. At least, I want to know some more dirt on how it all came about, at least.

    I too want to believe that Fosco (I accidentally typed the Fosco first) is behind everything. I think this is because that's kind of what Marian believes and I'm apparently programmed to align with Marian in most things.

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    1. Definitely agreeing with Marian about ALL THINGS! I just like to think that he is because he's way way smarter than Percy, but who knows?!

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  7. It took me FOREVER to be convinced that Laura wasn't Anne. Really. I mean, how convenient that she doesn't have any special knowledge of her past that could confirm her identity and restore her to the world of the living. How VERY convenient. I'm clearly not convinced even now, and I hope the ending doesn't make me look like a dumb-dumb.

    I don't think Percy is a foreigner? If we believe the story of how they met, Fosco rescued Percy from a band of thieves when he was traveling...which doesn't rule out the foreigner theory I guess. I am all out of guesses about where this plot train is going.

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    1. I definitely wasn't convinced, BUT I'm thinking that if she was Anne, she would have done something way weird by now, non? I'm not sure Anne even had the like mental capacity to fake a whole identity bless her.

      I no longer think Percy is a foreigner cause it was basically explained to me through I think Red's post that he's not the rightful heir because of his illegitimacy rather than being a complete imposter? Which, actually, makes me more cross at the mean laws for poor Percy (since he is still his father's son, presumably) just cause he's illegitimate. Poor Percy! (a bit.)

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